We have a good Police Force in Hartlepool, we also have a dog warden service....
But is enough being done to protect us from dog attacks?
Hartlepool has a population of around ninety thousand people, and around nineteen
thousand of those are children under the age of fifteen. Schools and nurseries strewn
across the borough see high levels of activity during term-time, with parents scurrying
around collecting their children. Some of these schools are adjacent to public parks,
open recreation areas and cemeteries - Jesmond Road School for example, directly
opposite North Cemetery (the scene of a dog attack on an elderly gentleman's pet
in 2008). With nineteen thousand children of school age, one has to consider the
safety of children, not only in the locality of schools, but the routes taken by
parents and children on their way home. Equally, Saturday afternoon shopping or a
trip to the park must also be considered.
What measures have Hartlepool Borough Council
taken to combat the problem of dangerous dogs and their irresponsible owners?
What
legislation is in place to ensure the safety of the general public against dog attacks?
What measures are being introduced to combat the problem?
Currently, legislation is
in place pertaining to dangerous dogs. A dangerous dog is defined as any dog which
is dangerously out of control in a public place, and not just the four types of dog
currently banned in the UK (the Pit Bull, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila
Brasileiro). For a full explanation of the Act click the link below for further details.
For the purpose of issues raised on this site, we will look at the Act relating to
the 'proper control of dogs'.
The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
If a dog is dangerously out of control in a public place - then the owner or the
person in charge of the dog is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog while so out
of control injures any person, an aggravated offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act
1991. In proceedings against a person who is the owner of a dog but at the material
time was not in charge of it, it should be a defence for the accused to prove that
the dog was at the material time in the charge of a person whom he reasonably believed
to be a fit and proper person to be in charge of it.
Section 10(2) of the 1991 Act
defines a public place as meaning any street, road or other place to which the public
have, or are permitted to have access. This is a wide definition of a public place
and one which specifically includes the common parts of a building containing two
or more dwellings. It is intended to cover, for instance, those parts of a block
of flats where, although there may be a secure front entry door so that the interior
of the flat is not a place to which the public has unrestricted access, nevertheless
the common parts are, in all other respects, a public place.
Great piece of legislation
but two problems...
It is not preventative!
It does not make it a criminal offence for dangerously out
of control dogs to kill, maim or injure other animals!
1. If a dog is so dangerously
out of control in a public place this is not preventative - too late, the dog is
out of control and in a position to injure or kill a person.
2. At the moment allowing
a dog to attack another animal is not covered under criminal law. With the exception
of Swans and Badgers, attacks on other animals must be dealt with under the civil
courts. Surely it is important to ensure that dogs do not harm other animals? In
addition this will provide protection for working dogs such as guide dogs, police
dogs and other assistance dogs. It is unacceptable that your pet could be killed
by a dangerously out of control dog and this is not covered by criminal law.
What
is Hartlepool Borough Council doing?
NEW legal powers that will enable Hartlepool Council to clampdown on irresponsible
dog owners more effectively have been approved. They will give the Council a range
of powers to clampdown on irresponsible owners and respond to problems caused by
dogs in a more co-ordinated and effective way. These can include fining people who
don't clean up after their pets or fail to keep their dogs on a lead, limiting the
number of dogs allowed onto a particular area of land or excluding them altogether.
So, they have decided to restrict where we can take our dogs - a step in the right
direction at least; plenty more places in Hartlepool we can take our pets for an
unrestricted run. Problem is, who's going to restrict the irresponsible owner from
taking their dangerous dog to the same place?
At least we will know where to take
our kids to play and hope it is safe and the council vehemently implement the new
measures - maybe they will make another policy preventing our pets from being attacked
too!
