Humza Yousaf First Minister of Scotland speaks to journalists on the decision to ban XL Bully dogs in Scotland

Humza Yousaf First Minister of Scotland speaks to journalists on the decision to ban XL Bully dogs in Scotland.

First Minister Humza Yousaf has said the Scottish government will "in essence replicate" UK laws banning XL bully dogs without a licence.

The Scottish government has faced calls to fall in line with restrictions on the breed south of the border.

Amid rising concerns over attacks, the UK government banned the breed in England and Wales.

The Scottish government has accepted there has been an influx of XL bullies to Scotland since the UK's new law.

Mr Yousaf said the UK government's measures were "not a ban" and were announced without consultation with the Scottish government.

As of 31 December, the UK government has banned the breeding, selling or abandonment of the dogs in England.

Additional measures will make it a criminal offence to own an XL bully without an exemption certificate in England and Wales from the start of February.

The certificate involves paying a £92.40 application fee and dogs must also be kept on a lead and muzzled in public.

When the issue was raised at First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Mr Yousaf said the measures in England were not an outright ban on XL bullies as owners could still keep them under certain criteria.

He said: "What has become clear, I'm afraid in the last few weeks, is we have seen a flow of XL bully dogs coming to Scotland.

"As such, we will give further details to members of the Scottish Parliament through a parliamentary statement if the parliamentary bureau agrees next week.

"We will, in essence, replicate the legislation that is in England and Wales here in Scotland because ultimately, although we do have a very good system of dog control notice schemes, and we do take the approach indeed not to breed, we have to respond to the situation as it currently stands and therefore we will do what we need to do to ensure public safety."