Police force apologises to distraught family after putting down their XL Bully in an 'administrative error'

The owners of Bruno were in the process of applying for an exemption to keep him after a ban on the breed was introduced earlier this year.

However, due to an "administrative error" by the police force, the pet was put down.

A force statement said: "In August we seized an XL bully dog from an address in Morecambe as part of our powers under the Dangerous Dogs Act as XL bully dogs are a banned breed.

“A file was being prepared for consideration of the owner being prosecuted for the relevant offences.

“However, unfortunately, due to an administration error the dog was subsequently euthanised before the court hearing.”

A process had been implemented “to ensure the same mistake cannot be made again”, the force added.

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Lizzi Collinge, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, told the BBC that she is demanding answers over the incident.

She said: “This should be a ‘never event’ and I have taken this issue up directly with the police.

"I was shocked to see that a much-loved pet dog, Bruno, was wrongly euthanised while in police care.

“Processes should have been in place to ensure this never happened.

“There is a legal process when dogs are under police care and it appears this hasn’t been followed.

“I will continue to support the family and I appeal to the police to disclose how they are changing their practices so that this is something that can never happen again.”