Ennvironment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Written evidence submitted by the Cavalier Campaign

Do DEFRA draft clauses translate the Government’s intentions on dog control into clear, proportionate and effective legislation?

No. It is not proportionate. There should be no banned breeds. It isn’t a specific breed that is a problem but a breeder’s behaviour in how dogs of a certain temperament are selected for breeding. Within any breed there will be a range of temperament types. It will depend on which dogs are selected to be bred from, how a puppy is socialised in the first 8 weeks of life (responsibilty of the breeder) and how the dog is treated later in life (by its owner)

Do the proposed measures provide a sufficient legislative base to tackle irresponsible dog ownership?

No. The breeding of these dogs has been completely ignored. Traits of dog on dog aggression, dog on human aggression, nervousness or hyper activity can be genetic (therefore care must be taken in selecting which dogs should be bred) and/or the quality of appropriate socialisation in the first 8 weeks of life. These early weeks are crucial in a dog’s development and are the responsibilty of the breeder. To address this problem, all breeders of dogs (whether of one litter or many) should be entered on to a national database. Breeders of more than 2 litters a year should be licensed by the local authority and inspected by local authority animal welfare officers. All who breed should be given guidance in the form of an accepted Standard for Breeding (such as the current Standard for Breeding drawn up by the Advisory Council on the Welfare Issues of Dog Breeding)

Banning certain breeds is counterproductive and probably actually encourages the illicit breeding of these dog breeds. Becomes part of a sub-culture.

April 2013