There isn’t much you can do in modern Britain without encountering some licensing scheme, but one area of life which really does need regulating remains free of any kind of bureaucratic control. You can, for now, go out and buy an American Bully XL puppy with no need for any kind of training – for you or the dog – before letting it loose on the High Street where it might take a fancy to shins of a passer-by and, quite possibly go onto kill them. Should that happen, you may well find yourself in the magistrates’ court, but why not some kind of pre-emptive system to keep violent dogs off the streets – and out of homes – before they kill?
True, Rishi Sunak has suggested today that the government might ban Bully XLs as a breed by the end of the year, but why the shyness to take more comprehensive action on other dangerous dogs? Any screwed-up dog above the size of a chihuahua is a threat to the public as much as any ill-maintained motor vehicle or badly-built block of flats. So where is the equivalent of an MoT or building standards inspection? We haven’t let motorists on the roads without a driving licence for the best part of a century, but anyone can try to take a feral dog for a walk without the faintest idea of how to keep it under control.
The growing problem of badly-trained dogs has been exacerbated by the fashion for ‘rescue dogs’
Here’s a modest proposal: how about compulsory training for dogs and their owners, combined with a licensing scheme for both (a proper dog licence, that is, not the sort you used to have to buy at the Post Office, no questions asked). If a human cannot reach a basic level of competence in training they should be denied the right to own a dog; if the dog cannot be trained to an acceptable level it should be put down. Yes, I am sure there would be people who would weep at the thought of a condemned dog, but it is time that as a nation we grew out of our infantile sentimentality towards dogs.
The growing problem of badly-trained dogs has been exacerbated by the fashion for ‘rescue dogs’. When I first heard someone use that phrase I assumed they meant a St Bernard, but no – they meant an animal which might well be psychologically-deranged thanks to an abusive upbringing which they thought they could save. Honestly, if you want a pet, why not have one that is properly bred, and put the damaged ones out of their misery?
Three decades ago John Major was pilloried – at least by the dog lobby – for introducing the Dangerous Dogs Act. But the truth is it didn’t go far enough. It has left a lethal problem on the streets. In 2021/22 there were 8,819 hospital admissions because of dog bites, twice as many as a decade earlier. In 2022, deaths caused by dangerous dogs doubled to 10. If any other phenomenon was causing such a toll there would be action, yet government after government has cowered from the powerful pooch lobby. It is about time that came to an end and we finally released ourselves from the dog-lovers’ jaws.
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