RSCPA: Twenty leading organisations have urged the coalition government to make good on its promise to target irresponsible dog owners

Thursday, 9 June 2011 10:56 AM

Twenty leading organisations have urged the coalition government to make good on its promise to target irresponsible dog owners.

The nation’s biggest animal welfare charity has added its voice to calls for dog control legislation reform to be taken forward in a government Dog Control Bill in next year’s Queen’s Speech.

The RSPCA – as part of the group of unions, animal charities and enforcement agencies – wants a new consolidated dog law that provides greater protection to animal welfare, as well as public and worker safety.

Claire Robinson, the RSPCA’s government relations manager, said: “After the General Election the coalition government set out in its ‘programme for government’ that it will ‘...promote responsible pet ownership...and will ensure that enforcement agencies target irresponsible owners of dangerous dogs.’

“We believe the coalition government must update and consolidate dog control laws to make them fit for purpose for enforcement agencies to use if they wish to deliver on this commitment.

“In particular we believe this should be taken forward in a government Dog Control Bill in the Queen’s Speech in 2012.”

The issue of irresponsible dog ownership covers many different areas, including allowing dogs to foul or stray, encouraging them to be dangerously out of control and contributing to anti-social behaviour by using them as a weapon.

The RSPCA would like to see one consolidated Dog Control Bill that applies on both public and private land, requires all dogs to be microchipped, provide the police with greater discretion in determining whether it is necessary to seize prohibited breeds prior to the exemption process and provide the option of rehoming prohibited dogs when it is deemed appropriate.

New legislation could also give enforcement agencies the chance to act earlier and work with an owner, rather than prosecute once an incident has already occurred – often with tragic circumstances.

The RSPCA and other organisations also believe more needs to be done to speed up the process of exempting dogs currently on the list of banned breeds, and save potentially huge sums of public money spent on police kennelling budgets. The Metropolitan Police Service alone has an annual budget for kennelling of seized dogs of £2.6 million for the current financial (2010-2011) year, while the estimated costs to the taxpayer per year for irresponsible dog ownership are in the region of £76.8 million.

Claire said: “In this age of austerity the costs to the public purse of enforcement is unsustainable and new approaches are needed that genuinely prevent incidents, thus saving money in the longer-term. We question whether the government and public sector can afford not to ensure public safety and improve animal welfare.”

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Notes to editors

The organisations calling for the coalition government to reform dog control legislation are Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Blue Cross, British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA), British Veterinary Association (BVA), Communications Workers Union (CWU), Dogs Trust, GMB, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Kennel Club, Mayhew Animal Home, National Dog Wardens Association (NDWA), Police Federation, Prospect, RCN, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), RSPCA, UNISON, USDAW, Unite and Wood Green Animal Shelters.

For more information on each organisation, please contact the relevant press office.

The joint briefing from the organisations to the coalition government can be read in full here:

http://www.politicalanimal.org.uk/RSPCA/Joint briefing paper June 2011 final.pdf

For more details from the RSPCA press office please contact press@rspca.org.uk or call 0300 123 0244.

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