AS OF FEBRUARY of this year, owning the XL Bully breed of dog became a criminal offence in England and Wales (if don’t have an exemption certificate).

Anyone who owns one of the dogs needs to have had the animal neutered and microchipped.

They must also be kept muzzled and on a lead in public, among other restrictions.

The ban was decided by the government after a spate of dog attacks occurred, involving the breed.

In some cases, the victims of the attacks died as a result.

The ban was enforced in an attempt to prevent further attacks involving XL Bullies.

But, despite their 'bad reputation', many owners still see the good in the banned breed and many still keep them as pets.

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Figures from The Spectator have revealed the approved applications for certificates of exemption to keep an XL Bully dog by postcode district in England and Wales.

That comes after they submitted a freedom of information request to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, to find out where the 50,000 registered XL Bully dogs live. 

In Wrexham, 58 applications have been approved, ranking it at 217th on the UK's list.

Flintshire has seen 47 applications approved, meaning it is in 350th place on the UK list.

The data shows that the highest numbers in the country for XL Bully ownership is in Croydon, where there are 219 XL Bullies in the CR0 postcode region.

The second highest figure is the S5 postcode area just north of Sheffield, where there are 189 of these dogs, followed closely by an area of Warrington with 182 Bullies.