Driving-style theory tests for dog owners could help prevent future tragedies like the horrific death of Wigan teenager Jade Anderson, according to a leading canine welfare watchdog.
The 14-year-old was mauled to death by the two Staffordshire bull terriers, a bull mastiff and an American bulldog at her friend Kimberley Colcannon’s home in Wigan on March 26.
Alison Green, founder of Dangerous Dogs Act Watch (DDA Watch), believes the introduction of theory tests rather than the extension of existing laws on dog attacks to cover private property will help save lives.
“The only way we’re really going to see any form of change is by bringing in something similar to a driving theory test for every dog owner, before they get one,” she said.
“With the latest fatality, for example, there were no complaints about those dogs – nobody had any record of any issue.
“Yet this little girl died – and that is the worst thing in the world.
“Something went wrong but even if we extended the law to cover private property, it would not have saved that little girl.
“But maybe if we had sat the owner down and said ‘Hang on a minute – you’ve got a number of bull breeds here which, quite honestly, should not be mixing together when you are not there’, then maybe that might have saved her.”
The DDA Watchdog founder maintains that ultimately the onus is on dog owners to become more responsible and it is up to the government to make sure this happens.
“If we are seeing – as the government claims – a growing number of out-of-control dogs, dogs with irresponsible owners and dog attacks, then what we have in place clearly isn’t working.
“What people keep saying is let’s extend (the Dangerous Dog Act) to cover private property but that is not going to make any difference.
“If we really truly want to do something, what we need to do is stop people going out and getting any dog they want without any thought whatsoever.”
Ms Green is adamant that such measures would help with over-population and strays as well as reducing the number of dog attacks.
“We need to change the law drastically and we need to bring in a law that says nobody, at all, can have a dog until they’ve proved they have the basic knowledge required,” she said.
“They need to know about the right environment in which to keep a dog, they need to know how to train them and they need to know it’s going to be expensive.
“We would be raising the bar and if we could do that we would see a fall in out-of-control dogs, over-population and the number of dogs needing to be rescued.
“At the moment we just sit there and say that when it goes wrong we are going to come down on you like a ton of bricks and that is ridiculous.”
Following the tragedy in Wigan there have been widespread calls to amend the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, which currently governs dogs in England.
Under the act American Pit Bull Terriers, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, and Fila Braziliero are banned while cross-breeds of these types are also prohibited.
It is illegal to possess one of these dogs unless the owner has obtained a certificate of exemption and had their animal microchipped, neutered and insured.
The law also states these animals must be muzzled and on a leash when in a public place, and they must not be left in the charge of someone under the age of 16.
However under current legislation owners cannot be prosecuted for attacks which occur on private property.
Scotland, unlike Wales and England, recently amended their dog laws to make a failure to control your dog on private property a criminal offence.
The Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 extended the criminal liability of a person, whose dog is dangerously out of control, to all places.
Scotland have also introduced dog control orders which help prevent attacks before they occur because authorities can cite an animal they receive a complaint about it.
According to RSPCA figures, the number of warnings issued to owners due to poor welfare was up by 12% in 2011 while the number of dog bites that required hospitalisation was up by 26% over four years.
However Ms. Green is adamant that only slight changes to current legislation and an extension of Section 3 of the act to cover private property will not solve the problem.
Image courtesy of theclockis1640 via YouTube, with thanks.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
