{"id":78573,"date":"2025-05-06T07:37:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T07:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/78573\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T07:37:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T07:37:09","slug":"east-london-council-introduces-new-rules-for-dog-owners-following-spate-of-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/78573\/","title":{"rendered":"East London council introduces new rules for dog owners following spate of attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/topic\/east-london\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:East London;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">East London<\/a> council has approved a new Public Spaces Protection Order (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/topic\/pspo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:PSPO;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">PSPO<\/a>) which will see new rules for dog owners and walkers within the borough.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/topic\/tower-hamlets-council\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Tower Hamlets Council;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Tower Hamlets Council<\/a> is introducing a PSPO in a bid to tackle dog-related antisocial behaviour (ASB) following several attacks which occurred in summer 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Following cabinet approval on Wednesday evening (April 30), new rules including banning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/topic\/dogs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:dogs;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">dogs<\/a> from all gated children\u2019s areas and keeping dogs on leads on streets and pathways will be introduced.<\/p>\n<p>A public consultation which took place between August and November 2024 saw just over 2,267 responses from people including residents and animal welfare organisations such as the East London Dog Community and the RSPCA.<\/p>\n<p>Cllr Shafi Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Environment and the Climate Emergency, said the council knows that majority of dog owners in the borough are responsible and pose no risk of harm.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cThis consultation with the community was held following several high-profile incidents, and a majority of those who responded expressed support for new measures which would bring us in line with the many other London councils who have had such rules in place for years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese recommendations seek to strike a fair balance and we hope they will reassure residents who have expressed concern about dangerous dogs, particularly about risks to young children, while ensuring responsible dog owners in our community can fully enjoy our open spaces and allow their dogs to play off-lead freely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the new rules, dogs will still be allowed to play off-lead freely in all parks and green spaces in the borough. The following measures will be introduced later this autumn:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"caas-list caas-list-bullet\">\n<li>\n<p>Banning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/topic\/dogs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Dogs;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Dogs<\/a> from certain areas such as gated children\u2019s play areas and sports areas<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Limiting the number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/topic\/dogs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Dogs;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Dogs<\/a> a person can walk at a time to a maximum of four \u2013 unless they have a professional dog walker licence issued by the council<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Ensuring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/topic\/dogs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Dogs;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Dogs<\/a> are kept on leads on or near roads, pavements and communal estate areas<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Complying with an authorised officer\u2019s [such as a Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officer] instruction to put <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/topic\/dogs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Dogs;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Dogs<\/a> on leads when asked to do so \u2013 including when the walker is unable to control the dog<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Introducing Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for dog fouling as well as all of the above<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The PSPO will not apply to people who are registered blind, are deaf and those with a physical or mental impairment who use dogs for assistance, which is in line with the Equality Act 2010.<\/p>\n<p>Bernadette Moriarty from the East London Dog Community, said: \u201cWe welcome continued off lead access to parks for dogs, and we support the council\u2019s focus on tighter enforcement of dog fouling and welcome the continued protection of gated children\u2019s play areas with no new dog exclusion zones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis proposal strikes a fair compromise that prioritises public <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/topic\/safety\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:safety;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">safety<\/a> for all while ensuring families with dogs can still enjoy ungated children\u2019s play areas together in a respectful and responsible way, and that responsible dog owners and their dogs are not unfairly punished.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms Moriarty added: \u201cWe\u2019re cautiously optimistic about the \u2018on lead by direction\u2019 and professional dog walker licence, but need to see these implemented and enforced in reasonable and proportionate ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to internal police data, there were 92 dog attack crime reports in the borough between April and October 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Tower Hamlets has the eighth highest crime reports relating to dog attacks out of all 32 London boroughs. Tower Hamlets will join neighbouring boroughs Newham and Hackney, which have had dog control PSPOs in place for many years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An East London council has approved a new Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which will see new rules&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,38415,38414,38413,10391,393,4884,257,38416,22145,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-78573","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-dangerous-dogs","10":"tag-dog","11":"tag-dog-walker","12":"tag-east-london","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-london","16":"tag-pspo","17":"tag-tower-hamlets","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114459747567052571","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}