Dog-related petition

[bunn]

I know there are several dog-lovers on my friends list, so I thought some of you might like to sign this petition:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/deedNOTbreed/

At the moment there are several 'dog amnesties' planned and more being proposed. People who think they have 'illegal types' will be encouraged to hand them in to be put to sleep. This is a poorly thought out approach. People with genuine fighting dogs know that they are illegal, know they are dangerous, and are (I am informed by those who deal with the unhappy aftermath) unlikely to hand them in for the asking.

People who have seen a scary photo in their newspaper and think it looks like Fido, however, are panicking in droves, and so are their friends, relatives and neighbours, even though Fido is more than likely mostly Staffy or Labrador, and approximately as dangerous as a slipper, given appropriate care.

The Dogs Trust and Kennel Club have both said they think this is not the answer to the two recent very tragic attacks that have been reported.

There is a darker rumour that there may be moves to add more dogs to the banned breeds list. Because it is very hard to define a 'breed' unless the dog has known parents and a recorded pedigree, this is a slippery slope, and anything along those lines will hit crossbreeds and rescue dogs first and hardest. I hope there is no truth to this.

Comments

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

thanks for the link.

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Yes, amnesties generally only result in honest people handing stuff in that they didn't have any intention of using, these are usually relics from Grandad's service-life. In Manchester a recent gun-amnesty resulted in a PR puff about how many they'd had including a Martini-Henry rifle (think "Zulu" and thus even if it's mechanism was still fit for use I don't think you can get the cartridges anymore).

Cheers for the link!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I believe you can get them, actually, although you've got to go to great lengths - some entusiasts load their own.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

This isn't an argument with your post, just a question. What are your proposals for dealing with violent dogs?

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Well, we already have the DDA for dog attacks: I'm not entirely opposed to all its provisions: I just think it's daft to say that (say) a lab x Staffy that happens to have come out looking pitbull, or indeed a pit bull that has had the kind of socialisation and training that one would wish for all dogs, is dangerous just because it happens to have a big head and a particular earset.

I also wish people would understand the difference between dog-dog aggression, and dog-person aggression - and what is likely to provoke the latter.

If I am honest, I personally am not convinced that dogs require extra legislation. Dog-related deaths and serious injuries, press notwithstanding, are quite remarkably rare, given how many of them there are, and that so many of them get such indifferent care, and I feel that new regulations should really be based on assessment of level of risk compared with other day to day risks.

I believe that there has been no detailed research into dog bite risks in the UK, and very little internationally. (If you know of any, please let me know!) The only study I own, concluded that dogs are less dangerous than slippers, balloons, trousers...

However, laissez-faire is not a popular concept when it comes to risks that could affect small children, however small and preventable, so:

- If anything, I'd rather see measures to regulate irresponsible breeding, which I suspect would also help reduce the number of dogs with poor temperaments, and dogs going to irresponsible owners who do not train or exercise their animals either.

The vast majority of breeders of 'bull breed' dogs seem to be appallingly ignorant and in it purely for the money, and I think that's why rescues are bulging with dogs of that shape, why the pounds put thousands to sleep every year, and why yobs find it easy to get hold of them. Many rescues won't even take staffy x dogs at the moment because finding good responsible homes for them is almost impossible.

- The DDA provisions on dog attacks (by any breed) will probably be extended to cover attacks occurring on private property as well as in public. This makes some sense: almost all the serious attacks happen in the home.

It won't stop the attacks. But it will mean the owners can be prosecuted first time the dog hurts someone.

- A law relating to training or using a dog as a weapon has been suggested, I quite like that.

- perhaps the owners of dogs that kill should be subject to manslaughter charges?

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot to mention the idea of requiring third party dog insurance, similar to the car model - a good idea anyway, as you are legally responsible for things like accidents caused by your dog.

I suspect that would be ignored by the really crappy owners and again would not reduce attacks, but it might possibly help a bit to oppose the 'dog as impulse buy' concept, if dogs had to be taxed and insured like cars.