Other Peoples B****y Dogs

[~Helen~]

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the only requirement is that the person 'felt' threatened by the dog,or 'thought' the dog might bite them

that's quite a frightening definition, because where I live there are people who panic if a dog so much as sniffs them on its way past, and I've had someone kick Josie because he "thought she was attacking him" (wearing a tartan doggy coat with a frisbee in her mouth :wacko: so the thought that he could use that to have her destroyed is worrying to say the least.

 

[whipmaz]

Sorry to hear about your running with the boxer dog. This week I have been on a number of posts reading about people out on walks and their dogs being attacked by other dogs and the owners not taking the responsibility for the attacks One week on and I am still waiting for the police to deal with a neighbour in my street (3 doors away)His dog got out of his property in to the passage to my property attacked my whippet Basil and then due to me letting go of the lead he ran off into the street the dog then turned on me biting at my hand and my husband then having to pull the dog off me I was taken to the hospital straight away put the neighbour has taken no responsibility for the attack The dog is still there but I am too frightened to go out in to the passage with Basil incase the dog gets out again we are even thinking about putting the house on the market because it is the second time the dog has attacked :rant:

I am off work until the hand heals but why do I feel that the police should have acted more quickly and removed the dog Do we not have a dangerous dog act any more ?????????????

Sorry to go on

Maz :rant:

 

[JAX]

Sorry to hear about you and Willow ( and you too Maz ) ..

Have you thought about putting a note through these people s letter box , Melanie ? just informing them about taking extra care about their dogs getting lose and possible conseqences should it bite anyone ( or dog) or even causing an accident . :angry:

Hope Willow has now recovered , Oldies do take longer than youngsters )

 

[kris]

helen,thats why there was uproar when this act was first passed.the dangerous dogs act was pushed through on a sitting if i remember rightly when there was hardly anyone there to object to it.a dog called otis was seized as he was a pit bull type and was in his owners car.the law decided he was in a public place and he was taken away from his owners and put into a kennels where the owners couldnt see him and he was kept there till the trial.the people who owned him went to the appeal court etc etc and spent thousands to save their dog.there were appeals from a save otis fund that a lot of people comtributed to,and if i remember rightly they won in the end but otis didnt know them when he came out of the kennels.and i daresay after spending so much time in a kennel he wasnt the same dog.the full story is in one of my dog world annuals,ill go find it and reread it and let you know what happened.

 

[kris]

heres part of the act that is relevant and that can be really unfair

(3) If the owner or, if different, the person for the time being in charge of a dog allows it to enter a place which is not a public place but where it is not permitted to be and while it is there—

(a) it injures any person; or

(b) there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will do so,

he is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog injures any person, an aggravated offence, under this subsection.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (3) above other than an aggravated offence is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or both; and a person guilty of an aggravated offence under either of those subsections is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine or both.

(5) It is hereby declared for the avoidance of doubt that an order under section 2 of the [1871 c. 56.] Dogs Act 1871 (order on complaint that dog is dangerous and not kept under proper control)—

(a) may be made whether or not the dog is shown to have injured any person; and

'grounds for reasonable apprehension' basically means if the dog scares you! (w00t)

 

[Scooter]

kris, thank you for your detailed quote from the act. I should (and should have) look into it carefuly as a victim as well as a dog owner.

The dog is still there but I am too frightened to go out in to the passage with Basil incase the dog gets out again we are even thinking about putting the house on the market because it is the second time the dog has attacked :rant:

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Oh Maz, how horrible! I'm so sorry about what happened to you and Basil. I hope you and your hubby are ok. I know how frightening you feel, especially because it happened to your own place where it should be safe to your dog. I sympathise you so much, as there used to be a male GSD who had been always loose in the front garden with no fence two houses away. The first day I took my pup out for a walk, he rushed to our drive and tried to bite the neck of my pup. I scooped her up and put her into the house, and scolded the dog to go back. Luckily this GSD was very friendly to people, and did obey my command. For a while, the GSD wanted to attack our pup anytime he saw her. I was VERY angry! :rant: I tried to talk to the owners, but they were mostly not in. We made ourselves a pair of wolves who had a young pup and even scatter male marking around our boundary to let him know that our garden doesn’t belong to him. :b Before too long, the dog developed a disease and suddenly got weak and died.

I hope police will act quickly for you, and you don't have to move. It is no right if you feel unsafe at your own place. Maybe you can prod the police by telling them that you are distressed and scared of coming out with/without your dog? :luck:

 

[~Helen~]

heres part of the act that is relevant and that can be really unfair  (3) If the owner or, if different, the person for the time being in charge of a dog allows it to enter a place which is not a public place but where it is not permitted to be and while it is there—

(a) it injures any person; or

(b) there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will do so,

he is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog injures any person, an aggravated offence, under this subsection.

    (4) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (3) above other than an aggravated offence is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or both; and a person guilty of an aggravated offence under either of those subsections is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine or both.

    (5) It is hereby declared for the avoidance of doubt that an order under section 2 of the [1871 c. 56.] Dogs Act 1871 (order on complaint that dog is dangerous and not kept under proper control)—

(a) may be made whether or not the dog is shown to have injured any person; and

'grounds for reasonable apprehension' basically means if the dog scares you! (w00t)

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Thanks for that, kris! You're so good at research :b

I guess the only ray of hope there is in the first line - "not a public place". Presumably if you're walking your dog out in public places then this law is shaded differently?

:unsure:

 

[whippetmad]

sorry to hear about Willow hope your both ok,lots of :huggles: and :* :*

 

[melanie]

under the new dangerous dogs act (when i say new its been in force for a few years now)any dog that is out of control in a public place can be seized and an order made for its destruction.out of control can mean off the lead and it wont return when the owner calls it.a yorkie can be seized under this act not just a rotty or gsd or pit bull.when it was first brought into force there was uproar from a lot of dog groups,but to be honest it needed something like this to stop irresponsible owners from just letting their dogs run around terrorising the neighbourhood.the dog doesnt have to bite or threaten a person,the only requirement is that the person 'felt' threatened by the dog,or 'thought' the dog might bite them.glad your dog is ok,it could have been nasty.i would write a letter to the owners telling them that if it happens again you will make an official complaint to the police and explaining how the law protects you.maybe theyll think twice if they are dog lovers and make sure their dog stays inside their property when off the lead :thumbsup:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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i didnt no about that, this is'nt the first time this dog has got out of the garden, but its the first time its come up to me. they have a postbox on their wall, i think i'll put a letter in it. :angry:

i havent taken the dogs out yet today, trying to think of somewhere where im happy to walk them will probable take them to yard where my horses are later and go in the field, at least im safe there

 

[Moo.UK]

Sorry to hear about this incident and am glad to hear that you and Willow are feeling better after your toast :thumbsup: ( you didn't sit under the desk too did you?... )

All this talk of the dangerous dogs act reminds me...

Theres a woman who lives near our local park who reports 'out of control' dogs off leads all the time - her real reason turns out to be that she is scared of them going on her ornamental garden or that she doesn't like the look of the owner :rant: what an old c*w!!! Drives the dog wardens & her neighbours mad! and the really really odd thing is... she has two dogs of her own! :wacko: i know this because she tried to set them on to my cat last year :rant:

 

[kris]

For many years it was said that 'every dog was allowed one bite'. This propounded a degree of 'rough justice', and provided a popular definition of a dangerous dog. The saying stemmed from a provision of the Dogs Act 1871, by which a magistrate could, on receipt of a complaint, deem a dog to be dangerous and order either its destruction or that it be kept under proper control. More than a century later the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1989 went a little further, empowering magistrates to specify the method of control and to disqualify a person from having custody of a dog.

The 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act (DDA) went further still and sought to remedy the main shortcoming of these provisions (still in force and invoked), which is that they are not preventative and can only be brought into effect after a biting incident. The 1991 Act specifies types or breeds of dog. It also embraces a dog of any breed which 'gives grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person'.

 

[kris]

helen ive been back and had a look to try to find out what that means cos there are so many subscetions to this 1991 act its hard to translate it into english!it does say that any place that is not a public place but where the dog has [ermission to be.it also states public places above that.so its basically covering every situation by saying in a public place or on the dogs owners property or house or anywhere where it has permisiion to be.if it didnt have permission to be there then its assuming that it is in a public place.tbh i find with the police they drag their heels with anything these days,i dont think they want the paperwork!best thing ive found is to pop into your solicitors, tell them and tell them the police arent doing anything about it.most solicitors worth their salt will phone the police up,give em a rollocking an threaten to report them to the chief constable for not carrying out the law.it usually works wonders when all private complaints and phone calls dont!

THE FOLLOWING IS A LOCAL AUTHORITYS DESCRIPTION OF THEIR INTERPRETATION OF THE LAW

Any other dog

It is an offence to allow your dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place or a private place where it is not permitted to be, even if it does not cause injury.

If the dog does cause injury and the case is proven in court, the dog will be destroyed and the owner faces 2 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

Therefore, all dogs must be kept under control at all times when in a public place.