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A recent article in the Ealing Times mentions that Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) in the Acton area of London have been speaking to dog owners about keeping their dogs on leads and muzzled.Since when have Staffordshire Bull Terriers needed to be kept on leads AND muzzled?

Has a new law been passed by government and they have not told the rest of us?

Apart from those legally and lawfully prohibited breeds that have to be muzzled, of which the SBT is certainly not one, the only dogs that have to be muzzled in public are those that have a Magistrates Court imposed control order. These dogs can be of any breed or crossbreed, from a Chihuahua to a Great Dane to a ‘Heinz 57′.

The difference is that a recognised legally composed gathering of Magistrates, Legal Advisor and lawyers have listened to evidence, formed an opinion and reached a verdict based on the evidence.

Where has this occurred with PCSO’s simply ’speaking’ to dog owners about their dogs being muzzled, where is the legally imposed requirement here?

By focusing on the SBT, the Metropolitan Police demonstrates the breed specific targeting of a dog that is not on any prohibited list. However in accordance with the law of the land, like all other dogs in the UK the SBT may be subject to any dog control restrictions in designated areas.

If there is a requirement for dogs to be excluded from a specific place, it applies to all dogs and does not mean, all other dogs apart from your own.

If an irresponsible dog owner fails to comply with such an order, then quite rightly they risk enforcement action for failing to comply.

The specific targeting of one breed of dog by PCSO’s appears to show a breed specific slant towards SBT, do the PCSO’s ’speak’ to the owners of other dogs too?

Until such time as the UK becomes a police state and the police instead of upholding the law start making it, would the PCSO’s of Acton please stick to it and remember that the SBT does not have to be muzzled in public.

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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