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Boris: We must stop thugs using dogs as weapons
Katharine Barney and Pippa Crerar12.11.08
BORIS Johnson is to draw up a plan to stop dangerous dogs being used as weapons, he announced today.
The Mayor said he was concerned by the rise in the number of dogs being seized by police or abandoned by their owners.
Mr Johnson was speaking at the Mayor's Question Time, addressing a question from Tory Assembly member Richard Tracey who called for particular attention to be paid to parks where young children could be vulnerable to attacks.
The Mayor said it would be a "very good idea" to have a dangerous dogs plan.
He added: "This is something that is very worrying. People buy these dogs as puppies of breeds that tend to have a ferocious reputation and then abandon them when they get older.
"It is pretty sad from an animal welfare point of view and should be strongly discouraged.
"It's something that should be raised up the political agenda because it is scary and it is intimidating and it is sad for the dogs themselves.
"I think it's something on which we could all work together that would be ideally suited to be taken up as a city charter process along with London councils. "
Mr Johnson said the latest figures suggested around 800 dogs will have been seized by police by the end of the financial year next April, compared with 481 in the last financial year and 173 in 2006 to 2007.
He said the problem meant police officers were being sent on training courses to help them deal with the dogs.
Deputy Mayor for Policing, Kit Malthouse, called for part of the action plan to address the £1.35million cost to police of keeping the dogs in kennels before magistrates decide whether or not they should be destroyed. He called for a "more swift disposal" programme in the courts.
The Assembly passed the motion put forward by Labour member Val Shawcross, which called on the Mayor to work with the Metropolitan Police and London's borough councils to tackle the use of animals as weapons.
Last month concert pianist Mary Duella was mauled by two pit bull terriers and her baby was knocked to the ground in his pram.
The 35-year-old was left with deep wounds to her arm and leg and had to have a skin graft. She now faces permanent scarring.
Under the Dangerous Dogs Act, certain breeds of dogs such as pit bull terriers are illegal.
Reader views (23)
We should have a minimum age of 21 for owning an APBT type dog (s) (american pitbull bull terrier). youg kids should not be allowed to have this type of dog(s) on the street. if found with one you should be fined on the spot and have the dog(s) taken from you and NEVER returned.
- Maurice, Birmingham
Dangerous dogs are becoming the weapon of choice for many as there is no come back. Carrying knifes will soon come with mandantory scentence so what better than to carry a dog. No lead, no collar, no chip no way of proof.
As always the bad guys are one step ahead. For the sake of the animals- lets act soon!
- Jay, London
Repeal section 1 of the Dangerous Dog Act which targets specific breeds. Very few people and authorities involved with this law agree that it is working including RSPCA, Kennel Club, Batersea Dogs home, National Dog Wardens Association and many Dog Police. Stop stereotyping bull breed owners as "un educated unemployable riff raff that scab off welfare on the council estates". This is very offensive and will not help solve any of the problems.
We need to teach people how to responsibly care for their dogs and punish those owners who don't. For £1.3million a year, I know we could come up with something better.
After 17 years of poor legislation, lets hope we can finally start sorting this problem out. Lets all try and work together please...
- Richard Zakss, Oxford, England
I would like to comment to the person who said that staffs are owned by uneducated unemployed people,riff raff that scab off the welfare and live on councils estates. I proudly own 2 staffs Im a teacher for the city of westminster I live in my own property and I dont live on a estate. So I think that makes me not riff raff and a scab off the welfare. Dogs do not train themselves they have to be trained. so people need to look at the other end of the lead. Dogs are not born to fight they are trained to. So please dont judge and tar evryone with the same brush. There is some of us out there that are responsible owners.
- Sue Green, SE LONDON
Without serious attention now, the use of dangerous dogs is a problem that can only grow. Unfortunately greater controls and licencing requirements are likely to make dog owning more expensive for the law abiding owners.
With regard to Mr Price's comment regarding Boris's bicycle behaviour. I have to say that I cycled in Central London for the first time in years a few weeks ago. My reflections on the experience are that by strictly adhering to the rules of the road I was a danger to not only myself but other road users.
My belief is that Boris and David Cameron perhaps, are giving the current rules some thought.
- Harry H, London UK
It's not uncommon to people ( girls and children) walking vicious looking dogs in South London. Should one of these dogs attack the dog walkers would not be able to restrain the animal .
- Eric Muldownie, London
Dog people generally have it it their own way for too long. ALL dogs to be muzzled in public and kept on short leads, except in special dog areas please.
- Albert, Teddington
The minimum measure is pit bulls should be muzzled at all times while in a public place, if not, confiscated and their owners prosecuted and fined in the same way they'd be prosecuted for carrying a knife or gun. In addition all male pit bulls should be neutered and any intact dogs seen, confiscated, taken straight to the vet for the procedure and returned to the owner with a hefty bill.
So-called dog experts defend this particular breed and try to pass off their aggression and unpredictability as equivalent to that of a Labrador. This is patently not the case, and they know it. If it were true, the yobs would be swaggering around with Labradors or Spaniels instead.
- Susanna Smith, Newmarket Suffolk
In many ways its the damn owners who are actually abusing these dogs. They dont train or discipline them. Dogs need that they are pack animals. Most of these people cant manage their own lives let alone some poor dumb animal. In the end the dogs are killed and they will do it all over again talk about cruelty, make me sick.
- K Lewis, Australia
The problem isn't the dog as much as the owner. Why not have a special license for keeping dogs that are suitable as weapons?
I could imagine that someone with a criminal record for battery shouldn't even be allowed to own a German shepherd or a Rottweiler or something like that.
- Golodh, London, UK
Karli - If that is the case then I hope that you are going to report this location of the puppy farm to the RSPCA.
- Irene London Uk, London UK
Pit bulls, staffs etc are owned by un educated unemployable riff raff that scab off welfare on the council estates.
These dogs should all be put down, Dog ownership should be the same as cars except that the owner and the dog should be registered and DNA'd. Vets should not treat dogs unlerss they are registered and if not the police called
- Mark Armstrong, london. uk
Watch it Boris, or I'll set my dog on you!
- Kieran, London, UK
Mike you are wrong. Police don't enforce the law because they don't have enough resources. An American Pit Bull is a prohibited dig type. its not a breed and they can be seized at any time.
- Mario Ruffy, wanstead
Keith Price: equating irritation of motorists at some cyclists disobeying the rules to murder, dismemberment and disfigurement via canine. So you support killer dogs because Boris once ran a red. Nice.
And though you deviate onto road rules you don't mention the lorry driver accidents, for most of which they were found legally liable (very very difficult to prove this due to paucity of road evidence). Have a thought for the majority of cyclists who are fully law-abiding but are regularly intimidated or slain by dangerous driving because they "don't have to obey the rules", as they "once saw someone cycling on the pavement". Jesus. What a country, to contain monsters like this.
- Reg, London
Pitbulls are perfectly legal on secure private property - there are (were) more than 1,000 pit bull terriers owned legally under the Dangerous Dogs Act in England and this was last year in September 2007.
Remember the girl killed by a Pitbull not so long ago - that was legal!
I am not aware of the law being changed to totally outlaw this breed of dog.
- Mike, London
How about neutering them, for a kick-off? (Maybe the owners as well - haha.) I know of one estate where everyone says a flat is being used as an unlicensed pitbull "puppy farm" by various dog owners - goodness only knows what kind of progeny they will produce, especially when coupled with a complete lack of training and discipline.
- Karli, Tottenham, London
I will support you Boris if you start to obey the laws of the road when you cycle into work every day.
- Keith Price, Luton, England
...it might be wise for Conservatives to steer clear of Dangerous Dogs, whether the real thing or parliamentary bills about them. Last time they got involved in such legislation they unleashed the Unintended Consequences Beast which turned round and bit them very hard. And it made little difference to the problem.
- Damian Hockney, London, UK
The answer is simple. Reintroduce the dog license, and license all dog breeders. Have the RSCPA/PDSA carry out checks on the breeders and prospective owners, with the cost of doing so incurred by the license fees.
Unfortunately it can't be applied retrospectively as there'd be thousands more dogs simply abandoned.
- Scott, London
It isn't fair the poor dogs get destroyed. Dogs can be retrained, unlike the hooligans who obtain them for their own evil purposes. Better to euthanase the hooligans I say. Or at least ban them from owning another dog for life.
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx
Never mind the dogs. How about a dangerous people plan.
- Alan Preen, McLean, Texas, USA.
Last month the Standard reported how an American pitbull cross named "Asbo" went on the rampage in Mitcham, mauling a toddler and 7 other people before being shot by police. I have been threatened by hoodies with a dog when I caught one trying to nick my bike. The problem is not so that owners are abandoning these dogs and police are then seizing them, but that the Dangerous Dogs Act is either not working or is not being enforced.
- Austen, London
