Wandsworth Council Seeks Breed Specific Licencing for Dogs
by Hamish Lazari (all rights reserved)
Wandsworth Council is seeking the reintroduction of the dog licence for certain breeds of dog.
What happened to spell the end of the dog licence the last time around was that the cost of collecting the revenue ended up costing more than the income received, will something similar occur again? Who would be collecting the revenue and who would be enforcing it, wonder if it might be the local council?
The licence used to cost seven shillings and sixpence, then with decimalisation this became thirty five pence, dog owner’s had to buy their licence from the post office.
According to an article in Wandsworth Council’s monthly magazine:
‘the licence would be restricted to pit bull type dogs and others not currently classified under the Dangerous Dogs Act’ To qualify the owner would have to pass a fit and proper person test and pay a substantial fee that would help to pay for
effective enforcement of the scheme.’
Council Leader Edward Lister also comments:
‘The problem is that just about anyone can own a dog. Most of the problems we have today are caused by young people aged between 13 and 17 who keep these menacing dogs but have no understanding of the responsibilities of ownership’
Is this the way forward or a publicity seeking gimmick, there are plenty of people of all age groups, let’s not be age specific about it who themselves have little or no understanding of the responsibilities of dog ownership.
Do Wandsworth Council not know that ‘pit bull’ type dogs are illegal and if anyone has an unregistered one then they are already breaking the current law?
Will Wandsworth Council end up licensing something that is illegal?
What other dogs might Wandsworth Council decide to add to the licence requirement that are not currently classified under the Dangerous Dogs Act, might it be dogs such as Rottweiler’s, GSD’s, Doberman’s, Mastiff’s, Staffordshire Bull Terrier’s or
anything over a certain size?
‘Housing estate residents who own fighting dogs could risk losing their home if they fail to ensure the animal is properly controled.’
What is a ‘fighting dog’, does this refer to a breed whose ancestors were fighting dogs in the 18th or 19th century and they are guilty by association of their breed type of being a ‘fighting dog’? Will Akita’s and similar breeds therefore be classed as fighting dogs?
This ‘restricted’ licence idea screams Breed Specific Legislation (BSL), anybody who knows anything about dogs, will know that ANY dog can bite, why not apply the licence to all dogs and put an end to tempting the government with further situations where BSL exists or can be brought in?
What will happen if this Breed Specific Licensing comes out……people will simply get a dog that falls outside the criteria and everything will be back to square one,and there will still be BSL in the UK at a time when people are fighting hard to
get rid of such discrimination.
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Well said Hamish. It seems that if they can’t get extended BSL in the front door they will keep on trying the back door despite all the evidence world wide being to the contrary.
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Do you live in this area? I do.
I take my very small child to the park and on the streets – properly supervised, mind – in his stroller. On the way, we often run into staffies (and allied breeds) in the company of clearly irresponsible owners. They are often on crowded pavements with no lead. If the dog got into its head to go after my child (as has been known to happen) there’s little I could do and little an inexperienced, irresponsible owner could do.
I’ve seen these dogs be brutalised. I’ve seen the damage to trees in public parks where the dogs have been trained to be vicious. Incidents of dog bites requiring treatment has more than doubled in London over the last four years and the most likely victims are children under the age of 9.
If you want to defend these animals it’s time for responsible owners to work with authorities to help find a solution to a growing problem. If it’s irresponsible owners who are the problem, then licensing seems the right solution. But if you have a more constructive idea, let’s hear it – not just picking holes in an attempt to deal with a serious problem.
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Felicity Reply:
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:49 pm
we’re not saying it wouldn’t help! we’re saying we need it for all breeds not just a few, we want every breed to be treated equally. if you only regulate a few breeds the irresponsible owners just move on to another powerful breed thats not restricted!
if every single dog owner had to prove they were responsible and could control a dog to get a licensce, regardless of what breed they wanted, it would be a step in the right direction!
you want to hear a more constructive idea, well here’s mine.
obivously for all dog owners to prove they are responsible before the can have a dog.
2.Any person who owns a dog(s) must get a licence for each dog, pay all costs of the licence and keep that licence up to date.
The cost of a standard licence be about £150 per dog. A dog is required to get a licence when it reaches 5 months of age.
(a) A discount of 15% if the dog is neutered/ spayed or has passed any kennel club k9 good citizen test.
(b) A discount of 25% if the dog has passed a bronze kennel club k9 good citizen test and is neutered/ spayed
(c) A discount of 50% if the dog has passed a silver kennel club k9 good citizen test and is neutered/ spayed
(d) A discount of 75% if the dog has passed a gold kennel club k9 good citizen test and is neutered/ spayed
3. no one below 18 can own, breed or sell dogs
4. if someone, uses a dog as a weapon, they should get 15 years to life in prison just as if they had used a gun or a knife!
5. all dogs to be micro chipped so owners can be located if somethings happens
6. complusory neutering for any dog that shows unprovaked aggression to prevent it from ever being bred. as well as complsory muzzleing and leashing for those dogs when in public, before it injurges someone
7. if anyone, takes an aggressive dog and lets it off lead in public, they should be charged with endangering the public.
8. if they can prove their dog is not or is no longer a danger to the public ( say if the took the dog to a trainer and rehabiliated it) then, they could have the muzzle and leash order removed.
this is what a think a dangerous dogs act should be including.
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Are you aware that the recording of bite injuries by the NHS does not actually record only ‘dog’ bites but includes human bites too? There are more human inflicted bites than canine ones?
Irresponsible dog ownership anywhere should be dealt with firmly, you are apparently lucky as in London the Mayor Ken Livingstone has backed a campaign that will deal with legal dogs such as Rottweilers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Bull Mastiffs being owned or kept by ‘hoodies’. All that will happen is that the dogs used by the ‘hoodies’ will be changed to different breeds, once all the breeds have been used up by the ‘hoodies’ there will be no dogs left to ban or imnpose restrictions on. You also live in the council area that boasts that it has one of the largest dog warden teams in the UK, 6 full time and 6 part time dog wardens should be able to promote responsible dog ownership between them in one London borough?
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