Dangerous dogs: DEFRA’s Plan to draw up new laws

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A PUBLIC consultation on how to tackle irresponsible owners and their potentially dangerous dogs is to be launched within weeks, DOG WORLD has been told.
The consultation will be staged to decide what measures should be imposed as part of an overhaul of the disliked and outdated Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (DDA).
The alleged contents of a leaked DEFRA document were disclosed this week, involving plans to overhaul dog laws in England and Wales which are being considered by senior ministers entitled ‘Consultation on dangerous dogs’. Under the proposals, it has been reported, would-be owners would have to show they had a basic understanding of their dogs before being allowed to keep them ‘akin to the driving theory test’.

Leaked plans

However, a source told DOG WORLD that this was from an early draft of the proposals and the idea has now been dropped; the cost of setting up such a scheme to cover Britain’s six million dog owners would have been prohibitive and would have to be met by either charging for the test or imposing a dog licence fee.
However, DW’s source said that there was to be a public consultation on how to curb the irresponsible owner/dangerous dog problem, and that this would be launched within a few weeks.
Under the leaked plans, microchipping would become compulsory, owners would have to take out third-party insurance on their dogs, the police and local authorities would be given the power to impose Asbos on the owners of unruly dogs and the law would be extended to cover dog attacks anywhere, including private properties.
There are also plans to boost the enforcement powers of police, the courts and local authorities. Cited are figures which show that the number of convictions for being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control rose from 547 in 2004 to 703 in 2007, according to the latest figures.
Animal charities welcomed the fact the Government was starting a conversation on the issue, but they warned that responsible dog owners could end up being financially penalised for no reason while those who trained dogs to be aggressive were likely to ignore the measures. A better remedy would be to toughen up penalties for owners of anti-social dogs, they said, so the punishment was seen as a deterrent rather than a slap on the wrist.
Dogs Trust said it was delighted that the Government was looking at holding a public consultation into measures to improve the DDA.
“The suggested ideas are about placing responsibility for dangerous dogs on the owner rather than focusing on breed-specific legislation which is a step in the right direction,” a spokesman said. “But we don’t need a stealth dog tax in the form of a competency test. We need much tougher penalties for those people who do allow their dogs to behave irresponsibly or in a threatening way and actions that can taken to stop this behaviour from continuing.
“A competency test will be expensive, time consuming and difficult to enforce. Being able to pass a test by ticking the right boxes on a piece of paper does not guarantee a responsible or appropriate dog owner.
“The test could be taken by someone who may claim ownership of a dog but has no day-to-day responsibility for its welfare or who could pass the dog onto a new owner almost immediately.
“Conversely there are vulnerable people who may struggle to pass an ownership test but are far more appropriate dog owners. For these reasons Dogs Trust does not believe a competency test is a practical solution to the issue of dangerous dogs.”
The RSPCA said: “We have long stated our view that current dog control legislation should be reviewed. We welcome any suggestion that the Government is prepared to stage a serious debate on the subject. But we would not support anything that would hit sensible owners while failing to police those who are danger.
“Any future legislation concerning the control of dogs should focus on the action of the owner and preventing irresponsible dog ownership. Irresponsible owners can own dogs of any type and no dog should be penalised just because of its genetic make-up. However, if legislation governing the control of dogs is to be effective then it must be easily enforceable.

Over-breeding

“Dog welfare isn’t just about dangerous dogs. Strays and over-breeding are also areas that would need to be properly addressed as part of any comprehensive dog welfare strategy.”
DEFRA said it never commented on a leaked document.