1Background
1.The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has long been interested in dog welfare. Our predecessor Committee held inquiries into Dog Control and Welfare1 and the sale of puppies and kittens,2 while in the current Parliament we have examined issues around greyhound welfare.3
2.Each year thousands of dogs are seized under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and hundreds are subsequently put down.4 Since the Act was introduced, injury and fatality rates from dog attacks have increased.5 We therefore launched an inquiry on 11 May 2018 into the adequacy of the Government’s approach to tackling dangerous dogs. We focused on the effectiveness of the current breed ban, and examined the actions needed to improve public safety and safeguard animal welfare.
3.We received over 400 written evidence submissions to this inquiry and held three evidence sessions between June and July 2018. A full list of witnesses can be found at the end of this Report. We are grateful to all who gave us evidence in person or in writing, as well as to the substantial number of people who contacted the Committee in relation to this inquiry.
1 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Dog Control and Welfare, Seventh Report of Session 2012–13 (HC 575)
2 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Animal welfare in England: domestic pets, Third Report of Session 2016–17 (HC 117)
3 See correspondence between Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and Tracey Crouch MP, published 14 March, 25 April, 18 May
4 BBC, Police seize 5,000 ‘dangerous dogs’ over three years, 13 April 2016
Published: 17 October 2018