‘Deal With The Deed, Not The Breed’

The Kennel Club’s position continues to be one of ‘deal with the deed, not the breed’, based on the circumstances of individual occurrences and it believes that it is unacceptable to ban all dogs of a specific breed based on the actions of a single animal. The KC believes every dog should be considered on its individual character as to whether it represents a danger to people.

Furthermore, there are various factors that breed specific legislation ignores that contribute to biting incidents and the Kennel Club maintains that irresponsible ownership is the most common. Instead of a law concerning the criminal and/or anti-social behaviour of some owners and the ignorance and misinformation of others, what currently exists is legislation that punishes a dog simply for the way it looks.

Cost implications are also important. Financial repercussions of kenneling dogs seized under Section One of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 are draining vital resources away from police services around the country. In 2002 it cost the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) approximately ₤250,000 to keep these dogs in kennels and concerns over the sums involved in this practice led the MPS to review the practicalities of the policy. As a result of this review, the Force now works with a panel of behaviourists co-ordinated by the Kennel Club, to assess whether Section One dogs can be safely re-homed.

These are dogs which in some cases have been held in ‘limbo’ for some time, with serious welfare implications for the dogs in question, yet it is quite clear that a healthy percentage of seized dogs pose no threat whatsoever to the public and, after rigorous assessment, should be released to live long and happy lives in loving homes, rather than languishing in kennels.

The Kennel Club continues to play an active role in lobbying against the injustices of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (the KC runs the Secretariat for the Dangerous Dogs Act Study Group (DDASG)) in conjunction with other organisations such as the Metropolitan Police, various welfare organisations including: Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and Wood Green Animal Shelter and representatives from the veterinary profession. In conjunction with these organisations, the Kennel Club has established objectives for a review of dangerous dog’s legislation. Our goal is for these objectives to be introduced as new legislation under a Control of Dogs Act.

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Kennel Club Issue Statements 

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