Morgan Gibbs-White (foto: Getty Images)
Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White faces a court hearing for failing to register his XL Bully dog, nearly two years after the government banned the breed.
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Morgan Gibbs-White is facing a legal case over his dog Harlo after failing to register the XL Bully with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
The Nottingham Forest midfielder, 25, missed the February 2024 deadline to obtain an exemption certificate for his pet, despite the UK government making it a criminal offence to own an unregistered XL Bully. Police have now applied for a destruction order, though the case is classified as a civil matter and the dog is not believed to be at risk of being put down as it has not attacked anyone.
XL Bully dogs were banned from being sold, given away or abandoned in December 2023 following a series of fatal attacks across the country. Owners are still allowed to keep them if they are registered, muzzled and kept on a lead in public, microchipped, neutered, and securely housed.
The court hearing, originally scheduled for last weekend, has been postponed until next month, according to The Sun. Gibbs-White has not commented on the matter, while Nottingham Forest have also declined to issue a statement.
Other footballers have previously been linked with owning XL Bully dogs for security purposes. David Raya, now Arsenal’s goalkeeper, reportedly trained his dog Goku with protection experts, while Todd Cantwell spoke publicly against the government ban in 2023.
Despite the legal distraction, Gibbs-White has continued to feature prominently for both club and country. He signed a lucrative new contract with Nottingham Forest in July, thought to be worth over £120,000 per week, and was named in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia. He has earned four senior England caps since his debut in 2024.