by alenaraphaella » Mon Feb 19, 2024 8:53 am
First and foremost, my sympathies go out to anyone who is attacked by a dog. I was attacked aged 2 by our family dog which had to be re-homed, and the trauma has remained with me for life.
I agree completely with most of the replies indicating that all dogs should be muzzled while in public.
As someone who has also lived in multiple European countries, where they have strict laws regarding dog ownership, I would go even further and say I think the UK needs to reintroduce licensing for all dogs. This entails every dog being registered and chipped, with their owner' full details on a national database which can be accessed much like the way the DVLA is for motoring fines.
Any dog that is found to be unlicensed is held at a local pound until the owner arrives to collect them, which incentivises taking ownership for poor behaviour, habits, etc.
Any dog that behaves aggressively towards anyone else, be it their owners' family members, or members of the public, results in an automatic warning letter to the owner.
Any dog that injures or kills anyone else, be it their owners' family members, or members of the public, results in being taken by the police with the possibility of being put down. The owner/s faced a £5,000 fine and depending on the circumstances (unlicensed dog, failure to used a lead/muzzle, banned breed, etc) results in jail time for the owner.
Only such measures will radically improve dog ownership and weed out the bad owners.
First and foremost, my sympathies go out to anyone who is attacked by a dog. I was attacked aged 2 by our family dog which had to be re-homed, and the trauma has remained with me for life.
I agree completely with most of the replies indicating that all dogs should be muzzled while in public.
As someone who has also lived in multiple European countries, where they have strict laws regarding dog ownership, I would go even further and say I think the UK needs to reintroduce licensing for all dogs. This entails every dog being registered and chipped, with their owner' full details on a national database which can be accessed much like the way the DVLA is for motoring fines.
Any dog that is found to be unlicensed is held at a local pound until the owner arrives to collect them, which incentivises taking ownership for poor behaviour, habits, etc.
Any dog that behaves aggressively towards anyone else, be it their owners' family members, or members of the public, results in an automatic warning letter to the owner.
Any dog that injures or kills anyone else, be it their owners' family members, or members of the public, results in being taken by the police with the possibility of being put down. The owner/s faced a £5,000 fine and depending on the circumstances (unlicensed dog, failure to used a lead/muzzle, banned breed, etc) results in jail time for the owner.
Only such measures will radically improve dog ownership and weed out the bad owners.