Changes to the Dangerous Dogs Act - Advice for [all] Owners

[Chrisalice]

Don't know if this has been posted already but heres a link - it applies to us all. www.nawt.org.uk/advice/changes-dangerous-dogs-act-advice-owners

Section 3 of the Act applies to every single dog owner in England and Wales. Under this section, it is a criminal offence for the person in charge of the dog to allow it to be ‘dangerously out of control’ in a public place.

A dog doesn't have to bite to be deemed dangerous in the eyes of the law

Generally if a dog bites a person, it will be presumed to have been ‘dangerously out of control’, however even if the dog does not bite, but gives the person grounds to feel that the dog may injure them, the law still applies.

Not many dog owners are aware of this, and it is important to hold that thought when looking at the changes

My trainer told us this last week. If your dog is running loose and runs up to someone to say hello and they feel threatened they can report it. Hey presto, your dog has a label and has to wear a muzzle for the rest of its life. Bonkers. Far too open to abuse.

Could really change how we expect to use public spaces - maybe could lead to 'dog parks' (do they exist in the UK already? fenced areas just for off-leash dogs) and all they involve...? :o

Could mean everyone sharpens up recall / down stay etc too!

But probably a whole lot won't know about it unless something happens to make them find out.

Absolutely. There'll be DM sad faces all round when some poor old lady's terrier gets accused of looking at someone's pfb funny. Non-doggy people up and down the country will be gleefully leaping on this as a reminder to put us dog lovers in our place.

Surely no dog should be 'out of control' in a public space - dangerous or no? I always understood it as if you cannot recall your dog, they should be on a lead.

The trouble is the other person will only see a dog running about and won't know that it is under control. My dog is perfectly able to have a run along the field and to the untrained eye it would look as though he is out of control and beyond my reach. I know though that one pip of the whistle would have him turn on the spot to watch me and two pips would have him racing back, even in the presence of other people and dogs. It's tricky when you're somewhere like the beach and people drift in and out.

It's reasonable apprehension that they may be injured, so while charging up to say hello could reasonably be interpreted that way, a dog running about over yonder really wouldn't be.

Lucky England and Wales - I wish that change was in place up here.

If your dog runs up to someone (while they're just been PITA friendly) and doesn't come back to you when you call them then they are not under your control - and should be at the end of a lead.

It's in the 2010 dog act, so is the part about private places not being exempt, it's England and Wales that are playing catch up with it.