The Kennel Club is celebrating being one step closer to removing the huge injustices within existing ‘dangerous dog’ legislation after Lord Redesdale’s Dog Control Bill passed its Committee Stage in the House of Lords this morning.

The Kennel Club is the Secretariat of the Dangerous Dogs Act Study Group which drafted the current Dog Control Bill and has been lobbying to remove breed specific legislation for many years.  The Kennel Club believes the focus of ‘dangerous dog’ legislation must be on the other end of the lead, the irresponsible dog owners, rather than the dogs themselves, and is delighted with today’s success.

Kennel Club spokesperson, Bill Lambert said: “The Kennel Club believes that it is people, not the dogs themselves which are the cause of dogs becoming dangerous, and it is the owner who has the potential to make a dog either well behaved or badly behaved. Dog Control Notices would ensure tougher action is taken against irresponsible dog owners and place more emphasis on the owner’s responsibilities at the first signs of dog aggression.

“Under the Dog Control Bill, dogs of specific type will also no longer be penalised simply for how they look, allowing resources to be better spent targeting those irresponsible owners who encourage their dog to be aggressive.

“We are delighted that the House of Lords have taken another step in changing what is widely considered to have been ‘kneejerk’ legislation and hope that the government will now take note for the good of the dog owning and non dog owning public alike.”

Subject to passing the Report Stage, the Bill would then move to the House of Commons. The final Report Stage in the House of Lords will take place approximately two weeks from today’s Committee Stage.

In support of the Bill, the DDASG launched a petition which has now received over 10,000 signatures. The petition can be found by clicking here. For more information on DDASG, Lord Redesdale’s Dog Control Bill and current legislation, please click here. 

ENDS

4^th March 2011
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