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Doggy Asbos - The Only Solution?
By Debbie Connolly
Most dog owners were horrified to read the Government’s latest ideas about dog ownership. ASBO’s for the dogs, compulsory insurance, yet again targeting the good owners. The outcry from the many owners ridiculing these suggestions has stopped it for now. My guess is we’ll be seeing it all again in a slightly disguised form.
What exactly is responsible ownership? How would you define punishment? I don’t think it is as clear cut as perhaps it seems. Bad dog owners exist everywhere, but they often don’t know they are bad. The Government and the media have spent a lot of time talking about attacks and deaths and I think they’ve missed the point. The sort of bad ownership that affects us ordinary folk isn’t at the extreme end. It’s the dog off lead that runs at us barking, winding us and our dog up. It’s the lazy owner who doesn’t pick up their mess, it’s the barking dog at 3am.
I once spent time in a park with a local dog group giving advice to passing dog owners. We politely gave out literature about local classes and tips as the council were intending to impose an off lead ban amongst other things. The most amazing reactions were from people with very badly behaved dogs who laughed when told this was the case. One man was furious when I told him his collie charging at people and dogs barking and snarling was actually breaking the law. “He’s just showing off, he doesn’t bite” he spat as he walked off.
So the first step in punishment has to be identifying the offenders. Then getting them to understand the nuisance they are causing. Then deciding on a punishment. That’s what we all want isn’t it? Punishment for the owners? That isn’t clear cut either.
I use a lot of pet forums online. There are a great many people relating stories from their local park of bad behaviour. Some are very serious, yet when the other members say “tell the Police” or “tell the Dog Warden”, the person says they don’t want to cause a fuss or get the dog put down. One case was a dog that had seriously injured two dogs in separate fights. Guy still lets it off the lead, abuses anyone who says anything. It seemed like the other owners were simply avoiding him and worried his dog would be put down so did nothing. How could this actually help?
The serious cases and sad deaths we have all seen are a horrible tragedy, but usually the dog has a history of problems and an owner who can’t or won’t sort them out. This is certainly the obvious owner we’d target as a candidate for a doggy ASBO? What about the off lead collie I mentioned already, doggy ASBO too?
I think the starting point has to be defining behaviour. I wouldn’t expect a dog to be perfect and never make a mistake, but there should be a clear code of conduct for ownership. Not just whether your dog barks or fights other dogs, also if it keeps running and jumping up at people or dogs or pesters them. If you own a fearful or even aggressive dog or you just don’t like dogs, this is just as annoying a behaviour as a dog barking at you or threatening your dog. Somehow the owners of these annoying but not overtly aggressive dogs think it’s OK to allow it because it doesn’t end in a fight?
So if a code of conduct exists, what next? Who will police it? This is always the stumbling block. I’ve had trouble getting the Police to act on the Dangerous Dogs Act, even when fairly serious, so I can’t see them wanting to do more warning. The councils will claim they don’t have enough money for more dog wardens or parks officers. My argument for this is by having a code of conduct and enforcing it, money isn’t wasted on responding to the endless complaints, stray and dumped dogs and incidents. Surely education and policing standards is more cost effective?
What exactly is responsible ownership? How would you define punishment? I don’t think it is as clear cut as perhaps it seems. Bad dog owners exist everywhere, but they often don’t know they are bad. The Government and the media have spent a lot of time talking about attacks and deaths and I think they’ve missed the point. The sort of bad ownership that affects us ordinary folk isn’t at the extreme end. It’s the dog off lead that runs at us barking, winding us and our dog up. It’s the lazy owner who doesn’t pick up their mess, it’s the barking dog at 3am.
I once spent time in a park with a local dog group giving advice to passing dog owners. We politely gave out literature about local classes and tips as the council were intending to impose an off lead ban amongst other things. The most amazing reactions were from people with very badly behaved dogs who laughed when told this was the case. One man was furious when I told him his collie charging at people and dogs barking and snarling was actually breaking the law. “He’s just showing off, he doesn’t bite” he spat as he walked off.
So the first step in punishment has to be identifying the offenders. Then getting them to understand the nuisance they are causing. Then deciding on a punishment. That’s what we all want isn’t it? Punishment for the owners? That isn’t clear cut either.
I use a lot of pet forums online. There are a great many people relating stories from their local park of bad behaviour. Some are very serious, yet when the other members say “tell the Police” or “tell the Dog Warden”, the person says they don’t want to cause a fuss or get the dog put down. One case was a dog that had seriously injured two dogs in separate fights. Guy still lets it off the lead, abuses anyone who says anything. It seemed like the other owners were simply avoiding him and worried his dog would be put down so did nothing. How could this actually help?
The serious cases and sad deaths we have all seen are a horrible tragedy, but usually the dog has a history of problems and an owner who can’t or won’t sort them out. This is certainly the obvious owner we’d target as a candidate for a doggy ASBO? What about the off lead collie I mentioned already, doggy ASBO too?
I think the starting point has to be defining behaviour. I wouldn’t expect a dog to be perfect and never make a mistake, but there should be a clear code of conduct for ownership. Not just whether your dog barks or fights other dogs, also if it keeps running and jumping up at people or dogs or pesters them. If you own a fearful or even aggressive dog or you just don’t like dogs, this is just as annoying a behaviour as a dog barking at you or threatening your dog. Somehow the owners of these annoying but not overtly aggressive dogs think it’s OK to allow it because it doesn’t end in a fight?
So if a code of conduct exists, what next? Who will police it? This is always the stumbling block. I’ve had trouble getting the Police to act on the Dangerous Dogs Act, even when fairly serious, so I can’t see them wanting to do more warning. The councils will claim they don’t have enough money for more dog wardens or parks officers. My argument for this is by having a code of conduct and enforcing it, money isn’t wasted on responding to the endless complaints, stray and dumped dogs and incidents. Surely education and policing standards is more cost effective?
Proving ownership and therefore responsibility is the real issue in the serious examples. As someone who has run stray kennels, I know how often someone claims not to be the owner of a dog. Even when chipped in their name, the owner says they sold it to a “friend”, “man in a pub” or “friend of a friend”. There is nothing you can do so no matter what the dog has done, the poor dog gets put down and the owner gets away with it.
So my idea is something I want to happen to start with proving ownership and therefore punishing the right people and not the dogs.
I want dogs to have a document which is a cross between the passport horses now have to have and a car registration document. The dog would have to be microchipped as horses now have to be. The document would exist from birth and just like a car, every time the dog changes hands the document has to be completed and sent away. There would have to be legislation that makes the last owner liable for not changing the document and remain liable for anything the dog does, whether straying or more serious.
There will always be people who ignore the law, but this way, there would be a lot more liability than now. It can also help towards the huge rise in stolen dogs being sold on so easily. It keeps the responsibility on the owner and means they can’t dispose of a dog so easily and have to either do the right thing and give it to rescue, or sort out the problem.
I’d like to see this system record complaints against the individual dog too. Whilst rare, I have seen dogs who are so dangerous there really is no option but to put them down. Some poor breeding, abuse or simply bad training can just occasionally produce a dog so damaged it really has no hope of a normal life.
About 6 years ago I had someone come to see me with a Cocker Spaniel. This poor dog had bitten them many times and had been stopped form attacking a child thank heavens. It was well known where it lived and sometimes the owners had to go outside to greet visitors and not return indoors because the dog would flip. Lovely people who just couldn’t face reality. The dog was mentally ill, from a puppy farm and there was no hope that anything could be done. It turned out I was the third trainer to tell them to put her down.
So my solution centres on people. A code of conduct and proper documentation for the dogs. Laws that keep liability and punishment firmly on the owners and solutions such as removing dogs for those who just don’t care. Until the owners who cause the problems face the consequences, there will be no change.
So my idea is something I want to happen to start with proving ownership and therefore punishing the right people and not the dogs.
I want dogs to have a document which is a cross between the passport horses now have to have and a car registration document. The dog would have to be microchipped as horses now have to be. The document would exist from birth and just like a car, every time the dog changes hands the document has to be completed and sent away. There would have to be legislation that makes the last owner liable for not changing the document and remain liable for anything the dog does, whether straying or more serious.
There will always be people who ignore the law, but this way, there would be a lot more liability than now. It can also help towards the huge rise in stolen dogs being sold on so easily. It keeps the responsibility on the owner and means they can’t dispose of a dog so easily and have to either do the right thing and give it to rescue, or sort out the problem.
I’d like to see this system record complaints against the individual dog too. Whilst rare, I have seen dogs who are so dangerous there really is no option but to put them down. Some poor breeding, abuse or simply bad training can just occasionally produce a dog so damaged it really has no hope of a normal life.
About 6 years ago I had someone come to see me with a Cocker Spaniel. This poor dog had bitten them many times and had been stopped form attacking a child thank heavens. It was well known where it lived and sometimes the owners had to go outside to greet visitors and not return indoors because the dog would flip. Lovely people who just couldn’t face reality. The dog was mentally ill, from a puppy farm and there was no hope that anything could be done. It turned out I was the third trainer to tell them to put her down.
So my solution centres on people. A code of conduct and proper documentation for the dogs. Laws that keep liability and punishment firmly on the owners and solutions such as removing dogs for those who just don’t care. Until the owners who cause the problems face the consequences, there will be no change.
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