Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Written evidence submitted by Anna-Lisa Browne of The Dog House, Dog Training and Behaviour
“Whether the Government’s proposed approaches will deliver the right legal framework, enforcement regime and educational support to reduce irresponsible dog ownership and tackle out of control dogs;”
“Are the approaches proposed by Defra in its announcement on ‘Tackling Irresponsible Dog Ownership’ on 23 April 2012 sufficient to ensure that there is a reduction in the number of attacks by dogs on people and animals?”
I support extending the criminal offence of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control to private property (where the dog has a right to be); to cover private land as currently it does not protect people on private land or people who have been lied to as to the temperament of the dog. A recent experience involved a dog transported to me from a rescue shelter. We were told the dog was safe (with people, dogs, cats and children), however, this dog went on to savage my staff member in her own home. As she was technically “in charge” of the dog at the time and it occurred on her property a crime had not been committed, but had the rescue shelter owner disclosed that the dog was aggressive and had bitten previously then the dog would have been handled differently by us and the incident could have been avoided.
Perhaps this should exclude incidences on private property where a dog is contained by a lockable secondary structure (kennel/dog crate/garage/shed/tethered etc). This would suggest to me that the owners have made reasonable attempts to contain a dog of questionable temperament in order to keep legitimate visitors to the property safe.
Seemingly, we are hearing of several rescued dogs from shelters that have been rehomed under false pretences and once settled in the new home, begin to show questionable temperaments (towards people, other dogs, livestock, children etc) despite being assured by the shelter that the dog is good around these. It could simply be that the shelter hasn’t had the dog in their care for a long enough period to be able to assess them adequately, or it could be that the dog is housed in an unrealistic (kennel) environment for a suitable assessment to be carried out or the shelter has been informed yet does not declare this in order to get dogs in homes. Currently, many of the smaller rescues and foster based rescues are ill-informed of legal obligations and remain un-regulated.
Similarly, dog training and behaviour remains un-regulated. We have more trainers and behaviourists than ever before in the UK yet dog bites and out of control dogs are also on the increase. This does not make sense if these “professionals” are doing their job correctly and educating owners. It is my belief that if the puppy training class the dog first attends is offering adequate training in a suitable environment then many problem behaviours can be avoided. Perhaps classes and behaviourists should be regulated in some way? The Kennel Club offer an accreditation scheme for trainers and behaviourists already.
Most responsible trainers and behaviourists (including myself) would be happy to be regulated and inspected. I would like to see a study of problem dogs to include which classes, if any, the dog attended in order to highlight any problem areas and areas requiring improvement. Perhaps some dog training classes are causing problems with some dogs depending on what training methods are used and how much information the tutor is able to pass to the students? Or perhaps problem dogs may be less (or more) likely to have attended any classes at all?
Dog licensing may well be an option in controlling problem dogs, if it is executed properly. I propose having a system in place much like our car tax system, with a coloured disc or plate to place on the dog’s collar as this can be instantly identified by other dog owners, officials and members of the public. I have also seen this work effectively with horse permits at Windsor Great Park. Most responsible dog owners are keen for other dogs to also be under proper control as many dog-friendly areas are currently under threat due to badly behaved dogs causing problems and leading to local authorities banning dogs from several areas. There could be a hotline set up for dog owners and members of the public to report suspected out of control dogs and dog fighting. This disc or badge can contain the dog’s microchip number (and able to be checked with a microchip reader) In addition, it could contain a barcode, which can be read by a smart phone app—this would be easy for officials to carry with them and check on location and can easily be seen if the disc has expired as it could be colour coded for each year (like tax discs).
I would think vets would be happy to issue licenses, and I’m also confidant that responsible dog trainers running classes, and willing to be licensed and inspected, would also be happy to issue licenses on dogs successfully completing a training course with them to an acceptable standard.
Many dog enthusiasts consider that spending money is part of being a dog owner and if a person cannot afford to attend classes, pay vet bills, buy dog food etc. then perhaps a dog is not the correct pet for that person. Adding a dog license fee to dog ownership may help discourage impulse buying of dogs and encourage a more responsible attitude towards owning a dog including the costs associated with this responsibility.
Perhaps there may be an opportunity for insurance companies to offer discounts for owners who microchip and license their dogs upon completing a training course with an approved training school.
My main concern regarding compulsory microchipping is simply that irresponsible owners are the owners that are less likely to take their dogs to the vet for injections, microchipping, parasite control etc. and as there is no visible clue that a dog is or is not microchipped it could be difficult to identify offenders until after an incident has occurred. If a problem dog is not microchipped then it would be relatively simple for the owner to release the dog (as a stray) or have it destroyed once it has bitten and thus avoid any fines, prison terms etc…
Many thanks for allowing us to have our say and contribute to the discussion.
June 2012