The Kennel Club has welcomed guidelines published today on sentencing for dangerous dog offences but remains concerned that recent government proposals to update flawed dangerous dog legislation fail to include genuinely preventative measures.    
 
The Sentencing Council’s new guidelines will help to ensure that courts use their full power when dealing with irresponsible owners who allow their dog to be dangerously out of control, as well as extending the guidelines to include injuries to other animals in terms of the offence of allowing a dog to be out of control.
 
The guidelines will further ensure that the penalties for owning a banned breed will now be applied to owners of dangerous dogs of any kind, making it easier for offenders to be banned from keeping dogs, for genuinely dangerous dogs to be put down, and for compensation to be paid to victims of dog bites. Furthermore this will mean more offenders will face jail sentences and community orders.
 
The Kennel Club believes that this is a step in the right direction in reforming current flawed dangerous dog legislation, but is concerned that these measures alone will not fully protect the public from incidents involving dangerous dogs as it is reactive rather than preventative.
 
Today’s announcement comes after a ministerial announcement last month in which the government pledged to promote responsible dog ownership through a package of measures to ‘tackle irresponsible dog ownership’. The Kennel Club commended the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ plans to consult on the introduction of compulsory microchipping which will help to crack down on the owners of dangerous dogs, but also labelled it a missed opportunity to better protect the public by preventing dog attacks.
 
Caroline Kisko, Communications Director for the Kennel Club, said: “These guidelines go a long way in sending out the message that irresponsible ownership will not be tolerated and will help the courts hold bad owners to account. However, the Kennel Club still has concerns that these measures do not address the real issue, which is the urgent need for genuinely preventative measures.
 
“We welcome the fact that sentencing in this area will now be more consistent, but what is really needed are ways of reducing dog bite incidents in the first place. The Kennel Club believes this must be done through education, more resources and power to the police and local authorities to deal with the first signs of irresponsible dog owners, and the use of Dog Control Notices to encourage responsible dog ownership to avoid bad behaviour escalating and cases like these having to go in front of a judge.”
 
The issue of dog fighting has also been addressed in the new guidelines, and training a dog to fight or being in possession of dog fighting paraphernalia will increase the seriousness of committing the offence of owning a banned dog, which will further serve to bring irresponsible owners of any dog to account.
 
The Kennel Club welcomed some aspects of April’s ministerial announcement, including Defra’s decision to extend the law to private property and to remove the mandatory requirement to seize and kennel all dogs suspected to be ‘of type’ under section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act. Whilst it welcomed the government’s commitment to invest in community projects to promote responsible dog ownership, the Kennel Club feels that £50,000 shared throughout the UK is unlikely to give local authorities sufficient resources towards improving measures to prevent dog bite incidents and protect the public from aggressive dogs and their owners.
 
For more information on the Sentencing Council’s guidelines on new sentencing proposals for dangerous dog offences, please visit http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/guidelines/forthcoming-guidelines.htm.
 
To find out more about the Kennel Club’s Dangerous Dogs campaign, or to get involved, please visit www.thekennelclub.org.uk/dangerousdogs.

ENDS
[153.12]
15th May 2012

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Notes to Editors:
 
Dog Control Notices
 
The vast majority of dog attacks are as a result of the irresponsible actions of dog owners, who have either not taken the time and trouble to train their dog correctly, or have indeed trained them to behave aggressively. Dog Control Notices will apply to all types of dog that have acted dangerously without provocation, caused an injury to another protected animal (as defined by the Animal Welfare Act 2006), caused harm, or caused a person to reasonably believe it will cause harm, and works to prevent serious incidents of aggression occurring by allowing preventative action.
 
The Kennel Club is the largest organisation in the UK devoted to dog health, welfare and training. Its objective is to ensure that dogs live healthy, happy lives with responsible owners.
 
It runs the country’s largest registration database for both pedigree and crossbreed dogs and the Petlog database, which is the UK’s largest reunification service for microchipped animals. The Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme is the only scheme in the UK that monitors and sets standards for breeders, in order to protect the welfare of puppies and breeding bitches. It also runs the UK’s largest dog training programme, the Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme and licenses shows and clubs across a wide range of activities, which help dog owners to bond and enjoy life with their dogs. The Kennel Club runs the world’s greatest dog show, Crufts, and the Discover Dogs event at Earls Court, London, which is a fun family day out that educates people about how to buy responsibly and care for their dog.
 
The Kennel Club invests the money that it makes from registrations and its Petlog identification database into its dog training and education programmes, welfare campaigns and the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, which supports dog welfare charities and research into dog diseases. The Kennel Club jointly runs health screening schemes with the British Veterinary Association and, through the Charitable Trust, funds the Kennel Club Genetics Centre at the Animal Health Trust, which is at the forefront of pioneering research into dog health.
 

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