DEFRA reply to Petitions Committee - dog law update:

 

DEFRA have responded to the petitions committee this month; the online Petition is still open for signatures and can be signed and shared here - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/624876

DEFRA: We currently have no plans to repeal the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. We are considering improvements to the existing legal framework through the Responsible Dog Ownership working group.

We recognise that dog attacks can have horrific consequences, and we take this issue very seriously.

We recognise that some people are opposed to the prohibitions placed on the four types of dog under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. However, the Government must balance the views of those who want to repeal or amend breed specific legislation with our responsibility to ensure that the public is properly protected from dog attacks. We currently have no plans to repeal the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and replace it with a new legal framework.

Simply repealing the breed specific provisions contained in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 with no other changes may increase the risks to public safety, which the Government is unwilling to do. Any changes to current legislation would require careful consideration to ensure that public safety remains at the heart of the regime.

The existing legal framework equips the police and local authorities with appropriate powers to tackle dangerous dogs and irresponsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog.

Under section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (“the 1991 Act”), it is an offence to allow any dog to be dangerously out of control in any place. For the purposes of the 1991 Act, this includes any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that the dog in question will injure someone, whether or not it actually does so. The maximum penalty for such an offence is fourteen years’ imprisonment if it results in the death of a person; five years in the case of injury; three years if it is an attack on an assistance dog and six months where no injury is caused to a person.

Section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871 allows a complaint to be made to a Magistrates’ court where a dog is “dangerous and not kept under proper control”. The court may make any Order it considers appropriate, to require the owner to keep the dog under proper control, or if necessary, that it be destroyed.

Additionally, the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 includes specific powers to enable the police and local authorities to tackle irresponsible dog ownership. These powers can help prevent situations involving irresponsible owners of dogs becoming more serious by facilitating intervention earlier on.

The main tool to tackle this form of irresponsible dog ownership is the Community Protection Notice (CPN). These notices can be issued by local authority officers or the police to dog owners, or anyone temporarily in charge of the dog at the time. Failure to comply with a CPN is a criminal offence.

Under the 2014 Act, local authorities can also use Public Space Protection Orders to deal with a particular nuisance or problem arising in an area by imposing conditions on the use of that area. For example, a Public Space Protection Order may be used to exclude dogs from designated spaces (e.g., a children's play area in a park), require dogs to be kept on leads, or restrict the number of dogs that can be walked by one person at any one time.

The Government is determined to crack down on irresponsible dog ownership and to that end we are encouraging police forces and local authorities across the country to use these powers.

We recognise that improvements could be made to the existing legal framework. In December 2021, Defra published research in collaboration with Middlesex University investigating measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. The Middlesex University Report made several recommendations with regard to improvements that could be made, specifically relating to consistency in enforcement practice and greater use of preventative enforcement models, improved knowledge and awareness of appropriate behaviour around dogs, strengthened accreditation of dog trainers, improved data recording and collection, as well as the introduction of new legal requirements of dog ownership.

We have established the Responsible Dog Ownership working group to consider these recommendations and identify potential reforms that could be taken forward in a holistic way. We will also be considering the effectiveness of dog control regimes internationally and what learnings we could take from these approaches. We expect the working group to make its recommendations later this year.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Above is the revised response as the Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition and you can read the original response on the petition page.

Prime Minister's Questions-Dog Law

Prime Minister's Questions on the 18th January 2023

Wayne David MP asked:

During a period of 12 months, two of my constituents—a 10-year-old boy and a senior citizen—lost their lives after being attacked by dangerous dogs. Fatalities have also occurred in other parts of the country. It is clear that the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is woefully inadequate. The Government have commissioned studies and debated the subject at length, but they have done nothing. My question is: when will the Government take action on the issue of dangerous dogs? (903171)

The Prime Minister responded:

The hon. Gentleman raises a very important case, and I am very sorry to hear about the specific families he mentions. We recognise that dog attacks can have horrific consequences, and I want to assure him that we take the issue incredibly seriously. That is why we have established a working group between police, local authorities and other key stakeholders to consider all aspects of tackling irresponsible dog ownership. That working group will make its recommendations later this year, and of course, the Government will respond promptly (ends).

Wayne David, the Labour MP for Caerphilly, has questioned the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons about the lack of progress from the UK Conservative Government in tackling dangerous dog attacks. 

Referring to his two constituents, 10-year-old Jack Lis who was attacked and killed by a dog in November 2021 and 83-year-old Shirley Patrick who was attacked and killed in December 2022, Mr David demanded action from the Prime Minister. 

Although the Prime Minister expressed his sympathies to the families of Mr David’s constituents, in response he simply said that the UK Government had established a working group “to consider all aspects of tackling irresponsible dog ownership”. He said that working group would make its recommendations “later this year”. 

Mr David said “I am incredibly disappointed by the Prime Minister’s response to me today on dangerous dogs. The working group he mentioned, was set up over a year ago. But Rishi Sunak does not expect their report to be available until late 2023. 

“Dangerous dog attacks are an issue that have dramatically affected my constituents and we regularly hear of other incidents elsewhere in the UK. The time for talking has long since passed. I want action from the Government”. 

In July 2022, Mr David secured a debate in the House of Commons on dangerous dogs. He called for a new and effective approach towards dangerous dogs that would look at changing the parameters of the current ‘breed-specific legislation’. He argued for an approach which focussed on all dogs, placing new responsibilities on the owners to ensure that their dogs were trained properly and could not be a threat to people. 

Mr David also called for a thorough investigation into the implementation of a dog licencing system and whether it would promote responsible dog ownership. Both of these ideas are backed by a number of animal welfare and dog charities including the RSPCA, the Dogs Trust and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Gov Response to BSL Petition

The Government has responded to the current Petition - which can be signed here https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/624876 until the April 2023 deadline.

At 100,000 signatures, if reached, the Government will consider a debate in Parliament, raising awareness and keeping the pressure on for smarter dog law.

DEFRA Written Response:

Repealing breed-specific controls with no other changes may increase risks to public safety. Any reforms would require careful consideration so that public safety remains at the heart of the regime.

We recognise that dog attacks can have horrific consequences, and we take this issue very seriously.

We recognise that some people are opposed to the prohibitions placed on the four types of dog under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. However, HM Government must balance the views of those who want to repeal or amend breed specific legislation with our responsibility to ensure that the public is properly protected from dog attacks.

Simply repealing the breed specific provisions contained in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 with no other changes may increase the risks to public safety, which HM Government is unwilling to do. Any changes to current legislation would require careful consideration to ensure that public safety remains at the heart of the regime.

Police and local authorities already have a range of powers available to tackle dangerous dogs and irresponsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog.

Under section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (“the 1991 Act”), it is an offence to allow any dog to be dangerously out of control in any place. For the purposes of the 1991 Act, this includes any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that the dog in question will injure someone, whether or not it actually does so. The maximum penalty for such an offence is fourteen years’ imprisonment if it results in the death of a person; five years in the case of injury; three years if it is an attack on an assistance dog and six months where no injury is caused to a person.

Section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871 allows a complaint to be made to a Magistrate’s court where a dog is “dangerous and not kept under proper control”. The court may make any Order it considers appropriate, to require the owner to keep the dog under proper control, or if necessary, that it be destroyed. 

Additionally, the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 includes specific powers to enable the police and local authorities to tackle irresponsible dog ownership. These powers can help prevent situations involving irresponsible owners of dogs becoming more serious by facilitating intervention earlier on.

The main tool to tackle this form of irresponsible dog ownership is the Community Protection Notice (CPN). These notices can be issued by local authority officers or the police to dog owners, or anyone temporarily in charge of the dog at the time. Failure to comply with a CPN is a criminal offence.

Under the 2014 Act, local authorities can also use Public Space Protection Orders to deal with a particular nuisance or problem arising in an area by imposing conditions on the use of that area. For example, a Public Space Protection Order may be used to exclude dogs from designated spaces (e.g., a children's play area in a park), require dogs to be kept on leads, or restrict the number of dogs that can be walked by one person at any one time. 

HM Government is determined to crack down on irresponsible dog ownership and to that end we are encouraging police forces and local authorities across the country to use these powers.

In December 2021, Defra published research in collaboration with Middlesex University investigating measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. The research considers the effectiveness of current dog control measures and makes several recommendations. These relate to consistency in enforcement practice and greater use of preventative enforcement models, improved knowledge and awareness of appropriate behaviour around dogs, strengthened accreditation of dog trainers, improved data recording and collection, as well as the introduction of new legal requirements of dog ownership.

In response to this research, Defra has established a Responsible Dog Ownership working group involving police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to consider the recommendations made in the Middlesex University report in more detail. We expect the working group to report next year and that its conclusions and recommendations will address all aspects of tackling irresponsible dog ownership effectively, from prevention to robust, consistent enforcement, focussing on owners as well as on their dogs.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Welfare of Seized Dogs

 

Appoint an Independent Team to oversee the welfare of dogs seized by Police - Please sign and share the Petition

Debbie Connolly is an experienced behaviourist & expert witness assessor for Dangerous Dogs Act cases and started this petition:

Dogs seized by Police are held in kennels whilst cases are investigated. Owners cannot be told where these kennels are located.  I am an expert witness, I assess dogs involved in bite incidents.  Some forces allow us to see the dog at the holding kennels, many forces do not or have changed their policies to prevent us visiting dogs in kennels.

I have personally made complaints to Police and RSPCA regarding unsuitable conditions, there are many incidents in the papers where dogs have died during seizure or gone home in a very poor state.  These have not made much difference.

I wrote a charter to improve the seized dog process, starting with leaving contact details with the owner and particularly allowing experts to assess all dogs at the kennels. The big names in the dog industry, Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, Battersea, Kennel Club etc do not wish to support this and wish to carry on with their work.  Whilst they do this, after years of them achieving no change, dogs are suffering. I intend to bring this change now.

Only the allowing of experts into kennels and the appointing of an independent inspection team can change the welfare state of seized dogs. 

Please sign and share https://www.change.org/welfareofseizeddogs

Kept Animals Bill Update

 Positive News - The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill 

The UK Government Petition has now reached over 100,000 signatures and has triggered a parliamentary debate which is scheduled to take place on the 5th December 2022.  

The discussion can be watched online on the UK Parliament You Tube channel.

The Petition can be signed and shared here - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/619442

Please write to your own member of parliament and ask them if they will be attending the debate at Westminster 

Find details of your MP at www.writetothem.com

Lest We Forget 2022

 

Open Letter from national organisations-BSL/DDA

 

Following calls by The Mirror to widen breed specific legislation to include more dogs the Dog Control Coalition issued the following open letter:

We are all deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic events this year and agree that urgent action is necessary to effectively protect public safety. We strongly believe that the current approach for protecting public safety is not fit for purpose and in addition has a number of unintended negative consequences for both humans and dogs. Changes are absolutely necessary but to be effective, they must be informed by scientific and other robust evidence. We cannot support what the Mirror is calling for and we are deeply concerned about the proposed changes.

Aggression in dogs is a complicated behaviour. It is not simply a product of breed and breed is not a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour. Analysis of 256 fatalities in the USA spanning a ten year period highlighted the impact of ownership and husbandry factors on dogs and the complex genetic factors and lifetime experiences (along with husbandry) that influence a dog’s behaviour and how they respond to different stimuli e.g. people, dogs and other animals. These factors include mismanagement of dogs by owners; abuse or neglect of dogs by their owners and dogs left unsupervised with a child or vulnerable adult.

Adding additional dogs to the current list of prohibited types or measures which seek to manage certain types of dog because they are believed to be more dangerous than others will not effectively protect the public. This is not just our view but was concluded by the EFRA select committee following their inquiry into dangerous dogs in 2018. Quite simply, any dog can bite and can be considered dangerous. In fact, continuing to focus on breed will continue to fail the public and harm the many dogs who live harmoniously with us.

There are undoubtedly people who are attracted to certain types of dog and intend to use them for illegal purposes. The coalition agrees that it is essential that measures are available to deter and punish owners of dogs whose behaviour is deemed dangerous however this cannot be breed specific in approach. We have long called for a different approach and for the UK Government to learn lessons from those taken by other countries which shifts the focus from breed to encouraging responsible dog ownership and education.

We want to see:

Interventions that focus on safe behaviour around dogs;

Effective legislation and enforcement with measures that allow early intervention, are preventative, evidence-based and proportionate;

A better understanding of why a dog bites to help understand better how bites can be avoided.

Yours faithfully,

 

The Dog Control Coalition:

Battersea; Blue Cross; British Veterinary Association; Dogs Trust; The Kennel Club; RSPCA; Scottish SPCA.