Ennvironment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Written evidence submitted by Robin Huson

I am writing as a dog owner, the owner of a Staffordshire bull terrier, and as someone who has worked professionally with dog rescue organisations, including ones which take in stray dogs directly from the public. As part of my job, I have experience handling dogs which were deemed by the authorities to be of “pit bull” type.

It is my opinion that basing a decision on how dangerous a dog is purely on its appearance is flawed, and that the current breed specific aspects of the Dangerous Dogs Act are far more likely to cause heartbreak to a responsible owner than to prevent a dog bite. As such, I welcome the amendment which specifies that if a dog is judged to be of an illegal breed, the Court should consider its temperament and history, as well as the character of its owner, when deciding if it poses a threat to the public.

However, I would ask you to look more closely at the premise behind this amendment—that the temperament of a dog and the behaviour of its owner may be more relevant than its breed in determining whether or not it is a danger to the public. In other words, a dog which is of illegal breed may actually pose no threat to the public at all. It is an enormous waste of time and resources to force responsible owners with well-behaved dogs into court, not because any wrong-doing has occurred, but because their dog is an illegal shape. If the genuine intent of this legislation is to protect the public, these resources would be better used targeting known problem dogs—and their owners—in the community, regardless of their breed.

Current UK legislation cannot even properly define what a “pit bull” is, but bases its assessments on a set of observations and measurements which can easily be matched by dogs of legal breed, or crosses between legal breeds. Clearly this is not an effective way to identify a dog which might pose a threat to the public, and the increase in dog bite incidents since the DDA came into effect demonstrates this.

It is a cliche, but legislation needs to tackle the other end of the leash. Dog Control Notices such as are in effect in Scotland enabling authorities to monitor and take action against known problem owners before their dogs become dangerously out of control. Such a measure in England and Wales would show a more pragmatic and less knee-jerk response to tackling problem behaviour.

April 2013