First Minister Humza Yousaf has been warned a planned ban on XL bullies is five years too late as figures showed 7,600 people were treated for injuries sustained from dogs in one year.

The figures were read out by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood on Thursday ahead of a ministerial statement on the introduction of safeguards against potentially dangerous dog breeds.

Mr Sarwar said the Scottish Government was warned in 2019 that legislation introduced in 2010 was “not fit for purpose”.

The Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee’s conclusions of the Control of Dogs Act made the claim and added the law had “limited effect” in preventing or reducing the number of dog attacks in Scotland.

In response, ministers introduced a dog control notice scheme which allowed local authorities to demand owners of dangerous dogs take actions such as muzzling or receive punishments including fines up to £1,000 or bans on owning dogs.

But as the Scottish Government prepares to announce it will effectively replicate measures against XL bullies introduced recently south of the border, Mr Sarwar said the current legislation should be reviewed to toughen punishments for dog owners.

The planned measures are likely to see the breeding, selling and abandonment of XL bullies made illegal, while a certificate will be required to own the dogs.

Mr Sarwar said: “In 2022 alone, victims were treated in Scotland’s hospitals a reported 7,600 times for injuries inflicted by dogs.

“These dogs were out of control, often mistreated or poorly trained by their owners.

“Many of the injuries people sustained disfigured them for life.

“The Government promised five years ago to take action against irresponsible owners and breeders, not just an individual breed.

“So if the Government can act on XL bullies, what will it take for them to protect people that they have repeatedly promised?”

The First Minister replied: “We did take action on the back of the work done in 2019. That’s why we have a really important regime of dog control notices.

“That is the regime that does not exist in England and Wales.”

Mr Yousaf said there are currently more than 1,200 active dog control notices in Scotland, with XL bullies representing 2% of these.

But he added: “One dog attack is of course one too many. We’ve taken a whole range of actions to protect communities as best as we possibly can and that dog control notice regime that we do have will undoubtedly help.”