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Showing results for tags 'Dog Law'.
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Yesterday I attended a seminar on all of the laws impacting on dog ownership, It lasted 3 and a half hours. As promised I have made the following notes of the most relevant areas affecting dog owners. Please don't shoot the messenger, if you have any queries, please contact the company that delivered the seminar, Cooper & Co, Solicitors, 01227 811988. www.doglaw.co.uk Dog Law Seminar 10 07 2016 delivered by Trevor Cooper 76% of households do not own a dog. We dog owners are very much in a minority. Ownership No definitive paperwork. Owner (Breeder, Rescue Centre, possibly habitual keeper etc); temporary keeper (dog walker, neighbour etc); Habitual Keeper ( person who looks after dog) Court will decide depending upon KC registration, sales receipt, vet bills, insurance certificate, who pays for upkeep etc) Value of dog rarely exceeds £10K, so almost always disputes are settled in Small Claims Court. Therefore no civil aid. Designer breeds are legally mongrels. Typical value of mongrel is £75 to £100. Control of Dogs Order 1992 Dogs must have collar and ID tag. Tag must show owners name and full address to be compliant. 8.5 million dogs in UK. 16 convictions in 2013 for incorrect or missing tag. Microchipping Criminal offence if unchipped. Up to £500 fine. Regs in place for 7 years as chipping is an ongoing experiment. DEFRA review after 5 years (2021). Microchips do not override requirement for collar & tag. Adverse events (chip doesn’t work, chip removed or chip has migrated) to be notified to DEFRA by the owner. Failure results in £5000 fine. Types of Dog Control Orders These cover cleaning up after your dog; failing to keep on a lead; Not putting dog on lead when directed by authorised officer (police or dog warden); permitting a dog onto land where dogs are excluded from; taking more than a specified number of dogs onto controlled land. Being replaced by Public Space Protection Orders, issued by individual councils. Current ones include Daventry (means of picking up dog mess); Barking & Dagenham (DNA testing and database to see who has fouled and not picked up) and Ashfield (must always carry several suitable receptacles for picking up dog mess). Scottish Parliament have discussed implementing compulsory muzzles on dogs in public spaces. It is likely that other councils will be watching the results of these, so watch out for PSPO’s from your local council and ensure that you comment on them as dog owners are in the minority. If you don't comment they may well be implemented with input from dog owners. Community Protection Orders (ASBO’s) can be issued to dog owners for persistent anti social behaviour. Covers dog on dog aggression, and can force dogs to be muzzled, retrained or removed from the owner. Noise Nuisance Statutory nuisance under the Environment Protection Act. Unlimited fine. Must take into consideration volume, duration & time of day. Accepts that dogs do bark, but they cannot bark excessively. Noise mustn’t be “intrusive & irritating”. Council will issue a noise abatement order. You must comply with 21 days or council will prosecute. You can use the defence of “reasonable excuse”, e.g. dog was barking at intruders, or responding to another dog as long as it is no excessive. However a noise abatement order is hard to successfully defend. Animal Welfare Act 2006 Maximum penalty (in theory) is 51 weeks in prison, but all cases are held in the Magistrates Court, where the maximum penalty is 6 months, reduced by 50% on licence. The longest sentence actually served for cruelty to date is 18 weeks (reduced to 9 weeks on licence) by Katy Gammon (27), who starved her dog to death by leaving it in a locked room for 10 weeks without food or water. RSPCA can issue “improvement notices” advising owners what they need to do to look after their dogs. They clam a 90% success rate, so maybe education on dog ownership is needed. Dangerous Dogs Act Section 3 Strict liability if a dog is dangerously out of control in any place (including your own home and land). Penalties are from 3 years (attacks on assistance dogs), 5years (attacks on people not resulting in death) to 14 years (death) all with unlimited compensation. The offence is aggravated if the dog injures someone (not necessarily biting, but scratching or bruising from knocking against them). If your dog causes anyone to have a reasonable fear of being injured, you are committing a criminal offence. Only one defence, “householder case” where the dog injures someone who has forced an entry. Provocation of the dog is not a defence. Only dogs “acting for the Crown (Police, HMRC and Military dogs have an exemption.