Dangerous Dogs

(asked on 25th October 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to make dog on dog attacks a criminal offence.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 2nd November 2021

The Government takes the issue of dog attacks extremely seriously and is determined to crack down on irresponsible dog ownership.

Under section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, it is an offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control in any place. The law does not specifically exclude an attack by a dog on another animal from the offence of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control. In March 2018, the Government wrote to all police forces and local authorities about the range of powers and measures available in relation to dangerous dogs, specifically reminding all parties that it applied to attacks on animals as well as people

Additionally, Section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871 also allows for a complaint to be made to a magistrates' court by any individual or authority that a dog is "dangerous and not kept under proper control". The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 includes specific measures to enable the police and local authorities to tackle irresponsible dog ownership before a dog attack occurs. The main tool to tackle irresponsible dog ownership is the Community Protection Notice (CPN). These notices can be issued by local authority officers or the police on dog owners, or anyone temporarily in charge of the dog at the time, whose dogs are behaving in an unruly way. To breach a CPN is a criminal offence and could lead to a significant penalty. To that end we are encouraging police forces across the country to use these tools.

Defra has also commissioned research in collaboration with Middlesex University into ways to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible ownership among dog owners. The research considers different approaches and the effectiveness of current dog control measures. Defra is giving careful consideration to the report and its recommendations. The report will be published later this year.

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