Introduce Dog Licences or Control Orders?

[Elijah]

Too many people i see everyday who clearly shouldn't own dogs. Just now I was in the city centre, lots of kids running about and there was this guy with a staff off the lead charging around, it nearly caught a pigeon. It was a massive staff as well. Unbelievable that anyone can just own one. In the news today a girl was attacked by a staff, the owner ran off. Bad owners seem to get the dogs with bad reps. (i know, its not the dogs fault its the owners who bring them up). But there needs to be regulation not only for the childrens sake but also the dogs.
From RSPCA:
"eight deaths and 200 serious injuries caused by dogs in the last four years (2007 - 2010)

1,000 children admitted to hospital for dog-related injuries each year

6,000 postal workers injured by dogs every year"
I have found a few e-petitions:
Here is an RSCPA one:
epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22631
And dog license one:
epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/12608
And breeding one:
epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/4484

I think dogs can be great companions, but there needs regulation over ownership surely?

But the people who need to control their dogs are the type that will not comply with any regulations and have nor regards for regulations or law in any case .

The money needs to be supplied to 'police' the regulations otherwise it is a waste of time.

Responsible dog owners will comply but they are not the people or dogs who need to be targeted.

i think all dogs should go to good citizen classes and be licensed, and not only that but all owners should go to a dog handling/keeping course and be licensed to keep dogs. and it needs to be properly policed.

breeders should have their own policies! god knows if we ever bred our females, were going to set rules. 'no under 25's, no single people, must have experience with large guarding breeds' etc

It's time to bring back the dog licence, and a legal requirement for all dog breeders, whether hobby or professional to be registered. All dogs should be microchipped and have a registration document detailing changes of ownership so that the provenance of each dog is on record. Rogue breeders whose dogs end up abandoned or in rescue centres should be tracked and deregistered. There should be tough penalties for those who breed dogs illegally. Obviously it will be a costly process to set up and police such a scheme but the licence fee should be set at a level that covers this cost. The pet industry is big business. Dont tell me that introducing a licence will make dog ownership an elitist activity. Anyone who cant shell out £200 or whatever for a licence should not get a dog. Maybe there could be a case for waiving the licence fee for dog adoption from accredited rescue centres. I'd be interested to know if there are any initiatives to lobby for a dog licence bill. I am shocked at the numbers of unwanted dogs in this country.

pointless.....

those that won't comply will still own dogs.

policing the compliant non-problematic majority is unnecessary.

"those that won't comply will still own dogs."

unless the police scan their chip on the street as they do the beat .

Policing the non-problematic majority is easy, its the non compliant that aren't.

This explains how the Swiss do it.

Officially, non-licensed breeders are only allowed to let their dog have 2 litters of puppies. If a dog bites another dog or a person, it has to be reported to the authorities.

They have very strict rules but the problem is that there is very little control. You have to do the courses and get the license but once you have done that, no one checks up on you.

A friend of mine was bitten by a dog recently, and the dog owner just walked off. My friend was too shocked to do anything at all.

I completely forgot to get my dog's tag last year, and no one ever noticed or commented on it.

Unless the police regularly stop and check dogs, then I don't see how more legislation can help.

A change in the danger dogs law is certainly needed, but introducing blanket license and dog training sessions is imo not going to stop idiots owning and training dogs to be aggressive.

you do know that the dogs that are rarely walked/ only walked evenings are never going to be checked?

the 'dogs that belong to twats' generally fall in that category.

No under 25's. Bit of a strange thing to say.....