The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (Amendment) Bill 2024 - 2026

 This is a Private Members Bill sponsored by Sir Christopher Chope MP (Conversative)

The official title text is as follows:

A Bill to provide that, before making any order to designate a type of dog for the purposes of section 1 or 2 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, the Secretary of State must carry out a public consultation and publish a comparative review of data showing the incidences of fatalities resulting from bites of dogs of that type in the last three years.

The 1^st reading in the House of Commons took place on the 21^st October 2024 and the second reading is set for the 27^th March 2026.

The Bill is asking that in future before making any order to designate a type of dog for the purposes of  section 1 or 2 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (before ‘banning’ another breed or type of dog - breed specific legislation) the Secretary of State must carry out a public consultation and publish a comparative review of data showing the incidences of fatalities resulting from bites of dogs of that type in the last three years.

Progress of the Bill can be followed online here - https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3854

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill

The Bill has moved through the House of Commons and is due a second reading in the House of Lords on 5^th September 2025

Full details of the Bill can be found here - https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3821

Explanatory Notes have been provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA):

The Bill addresses the serious issue of livestock worrying in England and Wales.

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 deals with dogs that chase or attack livestock in England, Wales, and Scotland (known as livestock worrying).

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill includes provisions to deliver a number of amendments to the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 ("the 1953 Act") to improve enforcement in response to incidents of livestock worrying by dogs. 

The Bill does so by extending the powers available to the police to obtain evidence of an offence under section 1 of the 1953 Act. 

The Bill extends the offence in section 1 of the 1953 Act to include roads and paths and expands the scope of livestock currently afforded protection to include camelids. 

It also increases the maximum penalty in relation to the offence in section 1 of the 1953 Act from a fine of £1,000 to an unlimited fine.