- Dog owners whose pets are out of control should go on ‘an awareness course’
- A police expert has called for changes in legislation and tougher legal penalties
- Tory MP Neil Parish compared the proposed courses to speed awareness lessons
Dog owners who can’t control their pets should be forced to take ‘awareness courses’, a police expert said yesterday.
Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard told MPs that owners who failed to complete the proposed course would face stiffer penalties.
He also said current legislation needed to be changed as most fatal dog attacks in the past decade were by breeds not on the banned list.
Dog owners who can’t control their pets should be forced to take ‘awareness courses’, a police expert said yesterday
The proposed training was compared to speed awareness courses by chairman of the environment, food and rural affairs committee, Tory Neil Parish.
He said: ‘If you’re doing 110mph down the motorway you’re not going to go on a speed awareness course, you’re going to have your licence taken away.
If you’re doing 32-33mph in a 30 limit, you’ll probably be offered a speed awareness course.
DCC Pritchard added: ‘Owning a dog is a privilege and you have to have the skills and therefore I think you have to pay to acquire those skills.
These are not all bad people but if they have let their dogs go loose they need to be held to account.’
He also said that the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act needed reforming as a majority of deaths by dogs were by breeds not on the banned list, namely the pit bull terrier, the Japanese Tosa, Fila Brasileiro and Dogo Argentino.
Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard told MPs that owners who failed to complete the proposed course would face stiffer penalties
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