Dangerous Dogs - is your dog at risk?

Recently highlighted cases in the press have called for tighter control and increased sentences for people who own dangerously out of control dogs. Legislation relates not just to banned breeds but also occasionally to much loved family pets who uncharacteristically may bite someone.

Taking effect from the 1st July 2016, the Sentencing Counsel for England and Wales have introduced a revised sentencing guideline for dangerous dog offences in response to the number of cases brought before the courts. 

Banned dogs

Banned Dogs in the UK include Pitbull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Braziliero.  It is an offence to sell a banned dog, abandon one, give it away or breed from it.

If you have a banned dog, neither the police nor the Local Council Dog Warden can take it away and keep it even if it isn’t acting dangerously or there hasn’t been a compliant.  The police would need permission from a Court to do this. 

Dangerous Dogs

Legislation also deals with those dogs which are not banned but whose actions are to be considered as dangerously out of control.  These include a dog which is dangerously out of control in any place where death is caused (maximum penalty 14 years imprisonment), where a person is injured (maximum penalty 5 years imprisonment), or where an assistance dog such as a guide dog is injured or killed  (maximum penalty 3 years imprisonment).  This also includes a dog dangerously out of control in any place (maximum penalty 6 months imprisonment), as well as possession of a prohibited dog (maximum penalty 6 months imprisonment).

Ancillary Penalties

In addition to the penalty for the offence itself the Court has the power to make ancillary orders. This could include disqualification of the owner from having custody of a dog which would depend upon whether the owner is a fit and proper person to have custody of a dog.  The Court also has the power to impose a Destruction Order or Contingent Destruction Order where the offender is not the owner of the dog and the owner must be given an opportunity to be present and make representations to the Court.

Compensation is often ordered by a court to be paid where there is injury, loss or damage which has occurred as a result of the offence.

The Court will make a Destruction Order unless the Court is satisfied that the dog would not constitute a danger to public safety, looking at all of the circumstances which includes the temperament of the dog and its previous past behaviour and whether the owner of the dog or the person in charge of it at the time is a fit and proper person to be in charge of the dog.  They can also consider any other relevant circumstances.  The Court can make a Contingent Destruction Order which could specify measures to be taken by the owner for keeping the dog under proper control such as muzzling, keeping on a lead, neutering if necessary or excluding it from a specific place.

Protecting our pets

It should be noted that even the most well behaved of dogs can cause injury in certain circumstances particularly if provoked. The owner or person in charge of that dog could find themselves summonsed to appear before the Court even if the dog is not of a banned breed or hasn’t done anything similar in the past.

In the event that any such incident occurs please contact our experienced Criminal Law Team.