Amendment to Dangerous Dogs Bill published
The government has published a draft Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Bill, which has been extended to cover private property.
This will make it an offence to have a dangerously out of control dog in any place – whether private or public.
While the bill has been welcomed by both veterinary associations and animal welfare organisations, it has been expressed that the law should protect the public at an earlier stage.
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) said the government must look at preventing incidents, rather than dealing with them afterwards.
The comments follow the recent death of a 14-year-old girl, as a result of being "mauled" by a pack of dogs at her friend's home.
"The Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Bill is a welcome move that will ensure owners take responsibility for their dogs’ behaviour in all situations," said BVA president, Peter Jones.
"But despite these proposed changes, the law will still be focused on dealing with incidents after they have occurred… The BVA strongly supports the introduction of more preventive measures, such as Dog Control Notices, to identify problem behaviour before it becomes serious.”
Mr Jones added that too many postal workers, nurses, social workers, and family members have been injured on private property with no protection under the law.
Meanwhile, Caroline Kisco, secretary of the Kennel Club, commented: "We hear of many cases of neighbours having reported incidents on private property involving dogs that subsequently go on to cause serious injury.
"The extension of the law to cover all places will fill in this legal loophole and allow action to be taken in these cases."
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
