Dangerous Dogs Act change urged by Blue Cross charity
Muzzled pit bull terrier Pit bull terriers were one of the types of dog banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act


Legislation designed to protect people from attacks by rogue dogs needs to be overhauled, an animal charity has said.

The Dangerous Dogs Act was introduced by Parliament 20 years ago after a vicious attack on a young girl.

The Blue Cross charity says the law is not working and it is time to shift the emphasis away from certain types of dog and place responsibility on owners.

The government has said it will make an announcement soon on measures for dealing with dangerous dogs.
Serious injuries

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in England, Wales and Scotland banned the ownership of four types of dog bred for fighting.

The outlawed types are the pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo argentino and fila brasileiro.


Any dog potentially can be dangerous, and conversely any dog potentially can be a safe and loving pet”

End Quote Richard Green Chief vet, Blue Cross

The act came into force in August 1991 after a dog attack in Bradford on six-year-old Rukhsana Khan which left her with serious injuries.

But the Blue Cross said the legislation was still failing to protect children 20 years after being brought in.

The charity said that just last week a seven-year-old boy was mauled by a rottweiler in Essex.

The charity's chief vet Richard Green told the BBC: "Twenty years is a long enough time to see if a law is working or not, and that's the amount of time it's been around - and clearly it's not because we're still seeing large numbers of dog attacks.

"There's still a public safety issue here and I don't think that over those last 20 years that we've seen any improvements at all

PLUS, on the dog's side now, loads of dogs have been seized as 'pitbulls' and PTS even if they have been loving pets and not caused any problems just because they look like pitbulls. With staffies these days now being bred with other breeds to make them look like the ultimate 'ard dog for the gangs and drug dealers to parade around with some have made their way (luckily for them) into loving homes only to be seized as a pitbull. Its NOT the dogs but the bloody owners that need PTS.