Blue Cross welcomes support from police and enforcers for rethink of ‘killer’ dog law
National pet charity Blue Cross is pleased to hear police and local authorities support a rethink of Section One of the Dangerous Dogs Act and supports their calls for simpler legislation to enable to them focus on cracking down on irresponsible owners of any dog; irrespective of breed.
Nearly 55,000 people have already signed Blue Cross’s petition calling on the Government to scrap Section One of the Dangerous Dogs Act, where under the current law, any dog can be suspected of being Section One if their profile fits those of one of the four banned breeds. Behaviour and genetics are not taken into account.
At today’s session of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee inquiry into the effectiveness of the Dangerous Dogs Act, The National Police Chiefs Council, Metropolitan Police and the Local Government Association were united in backing a rethink of Section One and called for simpler legislation which would allow them to better tackle irresponsible dog owners.
They were also in agreement that all dogs, regardless of breed, can be dangerous if they are in the wrong hands.
Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard, lead for dangerous dogs, National Police Chiefs Council told the inquiry he was happy for the Dangerous Dogs Act “to be looked at again” while Mark Berry, representing local government, said the evidence “shows breed specification doesn’t work.”
Dogs currently face a postcode lottery of whether they will live or die depending on how well equipped the police forces and local authorities are in that area to deal with the range of current complicated legislation.
For stray dogs like Duncan that means they will automatically have to be put to sleep, not because of bad behaviour or breeding, but simply because of his looks. Duncan came into Blue Cross’s animal hospital in Victoria last year as an emaciated stray and was treated by staff who found him to be gentle and loving but sadly he was typed by the police dog legislation officer as a Section One dog. Rehoming charities are currently unable under the law to rehome stray Section 1 dogs and must euthanize them.
Pet dogs are taken away from their loving homes and forced to spend weeks, months, even years in kennels, while owners are forced to go through a lengthy court process to prove their dog is safe.
Police are able to place suspected Section One dogs on ‘doggy bail’, meaning the pet can remain at home during the process, but it is dependent on area with many forces failing to offer this. Kennels greatly impact on a dog’s mental and physical state as well as proving devastating for the dog’s loving owners.
Blue Cross is calling for all police forces to let suspected dogs remain at home where appropriate and also for more assessments to be carried out of the conditions dogs are kept in when kennelled.
Even when a pet has been found to be safe by the courts, dogs are still criminalised by being placed on the Index of Exempted Dogs and owners have to follow a strict set of rules, including ensuring their pet is muzzled.
Steve Goody, Blue Cross deputy chief executive, said: “It was clear from the session today that police and local authorities see little merit in Section One and would instead welcome a simpler piece of Dangerous Dogs legislation which would be easier to enforce and allow them to concentrate on the deed rather than the breed.
“This would help them to focus on securing swifter prosecutions of irresponsible dog owners and ensure a consistent approach by police forces, local authorities and courts across the country.
“We know there is a postcode lottery when it comes to how dogs suspected of being Section One are treated across the country by police forces and local authorities who are under-funded and may lack the necessary resources and knowledge to properly enforce the current law
“This means many innocent dogs suffer because of a lack of understanding of the haphazard and overcomplicated legislation.
“No dog can be classed as dangerous simply based on how they look. Breed specific legislation is failing to protect the public and leading to thousands of innocent dogs being put to sleep or kennelled unnecessarily while dog attacks continue to rise.
“The legislation needs to change to save innocent dogs like Duncan and allow police forces to focus on tackling irresponsible dog owners and the deed not the breed.”
You can sign Blue Cross’s petition calling for Section One of the Dangerous Dogs Act to be scrapped here: www.bluecross.org.uk/our-campaign-end-breed-specific-legislation
