Dog attacks still increasing - is it time to bring back proper licensing?

The ban wasn't strong enough.

Licensing wouldn't make the slightest difference. Utterly pointless.

These breeds need to be destroyed.

Exactly
I would happily get one if needeed but my dog is never out of control and would be vanishingly unlikely to bite anyone if he wasn't

Sorry, but the people with dogs who aren't trained, aren't looked after properly, aren't insured and so on aren't going to get a licence for their dog.
Go head and bring it in, I'll get one, but my small, gentle, welltrained, well socialised well treated dog is not and will never be a threat to anyone and is insured to cover accidents etc.

Easy, all dogs are chipped.

You pay the license against the chip code online.

Those that pay the licence fund dog wardens that have chip readers.

Wardens read dog chips with chip readers, which automatically connects to a central register that says whether the licence has been paid.

It works for car numberplates.

Hi @NewHome2026 great post and thank you for sharing.

You will, as is inevitable on AIBU, get gaslit by plenty of posters saying "in my area there are now NO dog attacks, therefore you're wrong".

Despite there being a BBC article linked to this thread explaining dog attacks are RISING.

But you will get gaslit.

You know why, we all know why.

• Us British people don't like being told what to do
• People in the UK tend not to like over regulation
• They love their pets more than humans and can't wait to tell you so

So any post which is trying to introduce necessary critical debate around dog ownership, will get shouted down by the "my dog is well behaved and I live in a nice area, you must be hallucinating OP" despite all the statistical evidence that supports your view.

In short..... good luck with the thread.

So, SO many people drive cars without a license, insurance or any sort of paperwork. I used to be a police despatcher-the people who drive without licenses simply do not care. They're often born into a life of crime and are taught to drive when they're about 13 by Dad who also has never had a license. They go to court, get a short prison sentence even, so what? That's just what happens. Then they get out, straight back behind the wheel.

As a PP has said, dog licenses would be much the same. The folk who care would get one sure, but they aren't the same folk whose dog is an untrained status symbol and likely to bite or attack.

This.

If people are muzzling their XL Bullies in public and/or buying other breeds instead, then the number of serious attacks and fatalities will fall. I definitely haven't heard of as many serious attacks since the ban.

Do you really think the muppets who buy a completely unsuitable dog from a bloke in a pub would get a dog licence?
Because those are the dogs that attack people, I know any breed can bite but its never a Labrador from Harrogate when someone is killed or badly injured

How do you propose to enforce this licensing?

That’s interesting, op.
I was under the impression it was working to some extent because as far as I can see there have been zero fatal dog attacks here since February, while in the same period last year there were 6.
That would fit with what the plastic surgeon in the article says.
It’s not surprising if dog bites overall aren’t going down because the number of badly trained dogs across all breeds appears to be going up.

When you say 'bring back', what was the law like before that you would like it to go back to?