DDB 71 Brian and Christine Cheal
Submission
by Brian & Christine Cheal to the
Joint Committee
on the Draft Disability Discrimination Bill
Submission for new Disability
Discrimination Act Re: Attacks on working Guide Dogs by other
dogs
Attacks/Harrassment of
Working Guide Dogs other Dogs/ UK Dangerous Dogs Legislation
Dear Sir/madam
Reproduced below is an
e-mail we sent to the Home Office in October last year.
Animal Welfare legislation is covered by DEFRA now and the reply
we received made it clear that guide dogs are not specifically
recognised in UK Dog Legislation. It is left
to each individual police force to enforce/interpret legislation
as it sees fit. Although it is clear in the various acts that
a person does not have to be injured and indeed, need only be
in fear of attack, we have had enormous problems getting the police
to take action against the owner of the dog. The owner was
finally given an official warning and 'strongly advised to muzzle
the dog in public'. However, the police refused to consider
a court action on various grounds - that it was a first offence,
the owner was responsible because the dog was on a lead, Magistrates
would not convict on a first offence and even that to prosecute
could seen as favouring a blind person which would be in breach
of the 1998 EU Human Rights Act "that states that citizens
should be treated equally". In the meantime the owner
and unmuzzled dog are still coming to the city - indeed are in
& out of shops that display "No dogs except Guide Dogs".
My wife and her guide dog were traumatised by the dog attack and
it is apparent to us that current UK dog legislation should take
account of the special needs of Guide Dog owners.
My wife has experienced
another distressing incident recently involving an off-the-lead
boxer/mastiff cross (no attack) This dog is already known to the
police and local authorities yet we were unable to even get the
incident recorded as a crime. We have several outstanding
complaints with the police and are in continuing correspondence
with DEFRA and the Home Office (policing policy Dept). It
is our view that currentt UK dog legislation does not recognise
the special needs of Guide Dog owners. Many people we have
spoken to are shocked that Guide Dogs are not recognised in law
in relation to either dangerous or nuisance dogs. It seems
to us that this is a cl;ear case where the law in relations to
dangerous dogs/nuisance dogs should be interpreted differently
in relations to incidents that involve attacks/harassment of a
working guide dog. This is a hastily compiled submission
for the proposed new Disability Discrimination Bill. As
far as wer can see proposals in the Bill would specifically exclude
claims of discrimination in relation to criminal prosecutions
and we are therefore unsure if the act would be of any help to
my wife
GDBA passed us the contact
details of Nick Mays, Chief Reporter with OUR DOGS newspaper and
something of an expert on Dogs legislation, to gain some publicity
for my wife's situation. Two article published by Nick Mays
in OUR DOGS newpaper dated 16th and 23rd
January 2004 can
Articles can be read below
on the following weblinks:
http://www.ourdogs.co.uk/News/January2004/News160104/wasguide.htm
http://www.ourdogs.co.uk/News/January2004/News230104/guide.htm
Many thanks for your help,
our full contact details can be found at the end of this e-mail.
We would be happy to forward further documents/ evidence in support
of this submission.
Yours faithfully
Brian & Christine
Cheal
COPY of e-mail sent to
Home Office 14th Oct 2004
Can you please forward
this query to an appropriate person.
My wife is registered
blind and a Guide Dog owner.. Her guide dog was attacked by another
dog whilst she was working him in-harness in Plymouth city centre
recently. This was one of a couple of similar recent incidents
but was the most serious, involving an unmuzzled Staffordshire
bull terrier. The dog was on a lead but the owner had difficulty
pulling the dog away/ holding the dog and members of the public
had to assist. My wife ended up on the ground and whilst
neither her nor her dog were physically injured both have been
affected to some extent by the incident - the consequences could
have been worse. We have subsequently experienced
extraordinary difficulty in getting the police to take action
against the owner of the dog - let alone use the powers available
to them contained in the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991) - on the grounds
that no one was injured. It looks as though they will now
take action but this has only been achieved by making repeated
phone calls, finding the name and address of the dog owner ourselves
and finally making a verbal complaint. Nearly 3 months has now
passed since the incident occured. Unmuzzled dog and the
owner continue to come to the city centre at the time of writing.
We have been told that the action the police will take will be
in the form of an official warning and not as my wife would prefer,
a magistrates Court Order under the terms of the current Act,
to have the dog muzzled in public and excluded from the city shopping
centre.
I am not asking
you to comment on this particular case but would like to know:
1)
Has the Home Office issued supplementary guidance to police forces
and magistrates on how to deal with attacks on working Guide Dogs
by other dogs - especially in relation to the Dangerous Dogs Act?
2)
If such guidance has not been issued, are there plans to overhaul
the current Act to take account of the special needs of Guide
Dog owners?
Many thanks,
Brian Cheal
8 Belle Vue Rise
Hooe
Plymouth
PL9 9QD
Tel: 01752 401208
Home e-mail address:
cheal@eurobell.co.uk
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