Crisis talks as fatal dog attacks DOUBLE with victims including four kids aged under 3: Under-fire bosses at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs have called for round-table talks to discuss possible changes to the Dangerous Dogs Act
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“A dog is not just for Christmas” it’s not just for pandemics either.
They should increase the restrictions on dog breeding and councils and housing associations should do more to ensure their pet policies are being adhered to.
The article makes little sense, on one hand it says any dog can bite then demands increases to banned breed list and then also end breed specific legislation.
A survey I remember from years ago had Spaniels as the dog that bit the most people.
For me, the responsibility lies with the owner, the amount that do zero dog training is ludicrous.
I can’t help but think a dog license to do X amount of mandatory puppy classes for socialisation may be a route.
About a year or so ago, I was walking with our border collie and our son at the park. This woman shows up with this rat looking pitbull that she had no control over. She was holding him with TWO leads whilst wearing a pair of gloves. The dog was literally pulling her entire body and jerking her forward. She finally got the dog in the fenced off, little kid area where she let it off the leads. This thing was jumping up and down trying to get out so he can come for our dog. Luckily this idiot woman was able to gain control over her dog, otherwise I would’ve pepper sprayed his ass. And yes, I know it’s illegal. And no, idgaf because I don’t live in the best area. A woman was killed a few days ago on a trail and left there to be found by old people.
Stupid people always want pitbulls and rottweilers. They think it’s some kind of cool badge of honour.
The problem with breed specific legislation is that if you ban one breed then people will just get one that is as close as they legally can. See the current rise in “American Bully” and similar, which are essentially pit bulls, but are legal. I also wonder if it gives people a false sense of security about legal breeds.
What we need is a comprehensive look at the way we deal with dogs.
All dogs are potentially dangerous if not trained properly. And most dogs are not trained properly because their owners don’t know how.
We need dog licenses, if only to make people think hard about what dog ownership involves, and ideally with tests to ensure competence in dog training and handling.
I still think the mass buying of Lockdown Dogs was the best argument you’ll ever see for licences. Of course responsible owners did happen to buy dogs during this period, but its very obvious a hell of a lot of people just panic piled in.
Inexperienced dog ownership plus impulse buying a breed that “looks cool” without any research at all is a hell of a dangerous mix.
A few hundred pounds a year and a mandatory requirement for a twice yearly vet check up might be enough of a barrier to make people think twice before committing. There are swathes of the country where a pet dog is just a phone call to an unscrupulous unregistered “breeder” and X amount of cash away and then you’re driving away with a dog.
While “a dog is for life not just for Christmas” is of course true, it is at the end of the day, just a buzzword to a lot of people.
I blame Instagram as well. To a lot of people, dogs are just another accessory.
Increase sentences, make it unlawful for dogs to be off leads unless in a legitimate enclosed dogs only space. Re install council dog wardens, introduce you have to have a dog owning licence and chipped dog on a database. Make sure EVERY council tenant has to disclose they have dog and abide by the above legislation…if breached they get thrown out of all council properties.
Just one child’s death is enough. Nothing worse than seeing all the idiots taking their dogs on school runs or people who intentionally walk their dogs at that time because they want to say ‘Look at me…look at me’.
I take great pleasure in walking straight through them if they block my path.
I love dog law, it’s our twee British equivalent of the US gun regulation debate:
* Are there bad dogs, or just bad owners?
* Should some types of dog be banned because they’re just too dangerous?
* Should you need to have a licence and undergo training to possess a dog?
* Don’t we have an inherent right to own a dog?
Experts have been calling for law change for years and the pandemic has increased the amount of irresponsible owners who impulse bought dogs.
There’s no real laws about dogs being on leashes when walked in public. That needs to change. Reducing the opportunity to attack before it gets to the point where the law talks about out of control.
Non breed specific laws will catch all problems rather than having massive loopholes. If it truly is certain breeds that are the problem they’ll still be caught by more comprehensive stricter laws around ownership. This will also save time and money on testing dogs and eliminate the torture of dogs when testing suspected illegal breed to check their behaviour.
There’s no legitimate argument against wider restrictions that don’t focus on breed but we always waste our time talking about the breeds because some people just violently hate certain dogs.
Remember when we used nazi eugenics to measure head sizes of pitbull and then everyone was safe after that?
Punish the owners, stop blaming the dogs lol
A basic IQ test for Staffie owners would probably weed out about 80% of them.