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By Neil Burton. All rights reserved.

Over 200 hundred delegates attended both days of the National Dog Warden Association 24th annual seminar held in Birmingham on the 25th & 26th October 2007.

Day one was dedicated to animal welfare and dog control. Speakers from local authorities, government departments and the police gave presentations on health and safety around dogs and their owners, partnership working between Dog Wardens and the Highways Agency, the RSPCA and stray dogs, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the police perception of Dog Wardens.

The opening presentation fell upon Dave Holden, Senior Warden from Wirral MBC who gave a health and safety talk geared towards Dog Wardens in particular.

Alison Smith from the Highways Agency gave an informative presentation on the role of Highways Officers and discussed joint operational working between Highways Officers and Dog Wardens when dealing with dogs on motorways.

A presentation that was eagerly awaited by the delegates was from DEFRA that should have clarified just what is required when the police relinquish responsibility for stray dogs in the UK and it falls solely upon councils to deal with them from the 6th April 2008. Unfortunately the DEFRA official Tristan Crago was unable to shed any light upon what was actually required and fell back upon the favourite words of government, ‘where practical’

One thing that was clear however is that there is no requirement for an out of hour’s collection service to deal with dogs. DEFRA envisage ‘reception points’ where dogs can be taken by finders 24-7. The collection points may be kennels that are not owned by councils and councils are advised to work with animal welfare charities to offer such reception points.

NDWA is to seek clarification in writing of the guidance provided by DEFRA and its dog control advisers as areas of the guidance are really unclear, one area being the police will continue to deal with dangerous dogs. DEFRA seem to think that his means prohibited breeds such as American Pit Bull Terriers. Delegates thought that it also included the police dealing with dogs that attack people or are out of control in public? This is just one area of confusion that needs to be resolved as soon as possible.

During the RSPCA presentation by the society’s Senior Local Government Advisor Piers Claughton, it was announced that the RSPCA may offer assistance to councils in relation to stray dog collection. A well informed delegate asked Mr Claughton if the offer was in any way connected to the possible phasing out of the Animal Collection Officers in 2008.

Environmental Protection Officer Dave Griffiths from East Hampshire District Council discussed the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the implications for those councils that will be enforcing it and working in conjunction with the RSPCA to improve animal welfare in their areas. Unfortunately as with most things there is no money from government to help councils enforce the Act and there is no actual duty for councils to have to enforce it.

Finally Constable Peter Tallack of the Metropolitan Police Dog Unit spoke about the police perception of Dog Wardens from the point of view of the Metropolitan Police in the London area.

DAY TWO

Day two started with NDWA life member Cuthbert Jackson launching a discussion paper entitled ‘NDWA Proposals for UK Legislation – Control of Dogs’. Eighteen years earlier, Cuthbert had presented a 25 page report to the Home Office outlining NDWA proposals that amongst other things opposed breed specific legislation even then in regard to the Dangerous Dogs Act.

A number of ‘National Standards for Dog Owners’ were discussed; these standards were exclusively published by K9 Media at www.dogmagazine.net last Friday.

Some thoughts on compulsory insurance for dogs were also looked at; the use of insurance linked to the need for dogs to be permanently identified to enable then to be insurable was one possible way forward.

Enforcement via the use of ‘Control Notices and a ‘Court Control Order’ were also discussed. The use of these documents would free up court time and allow a swifter resolution of dog related issues. A civil penalty of £60 was also discussed for dog related offences. The proposals were radical and included a court imposed order for a dog and its owner to attend an accredited dog training course.

Mel Page from Deed Not Breed spoke next and gave a very informative and balanced talk on the work of DNB along with her colleague Mark Green. Mel during the course of her talk quite rightly corrected the misconception that those dog owners from Merseyside who had their dogs placed on the Exemption Register had not in fact ‘won their cases’ as incorrectly reported by the media including sections of the ‘dog press’. Mel acknowledged that NDWA had always been opposed to breed specific legislation.

Following Deed Not Breed was the second presentation of the seminar from Constable Peter Tallack, a Metropolitan Police Dog Handler and Dog Legislation Officer who talked about the Home Office Dangerous Dogs Identification Course.

After lunch, Inspector Neil Davies of the Merseyside Police Dog Unit talked about the Merseyside Dog Amnesty and gave an honest presentation on the problems the police faced and on things that went wrong.

The final speaker of the day was renowned dog law expert, Trevor Cooper who is acknowledged as the leading expert on dog related legal issues in England. As usual Trevor’s talk was illuminating as well as it was amusing and many delegates learnt something new from Trevor.

A straw poll of delegates proved that the choice of speakers and content was well received and NDWA is looking into the possibility of a one day forum to move the issues forward as there clearly a need for this kind of subject matter to be discussed by those persons on the ground who actually have to deal with the control of dogs as opposed to those who have no dealings with the subject but influence the government.

Author Details
Neil Burton is a dog warden and chairman of the National Dog Warden Association. - See this author's webpage

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