Dangerous dogs legislation



In Scotland, the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 gave Scottish local authorities the power to serve dog control orders, or “dog ASBOs”, and holds owners fully and legally accountable for the actions of their dogs, even in their own homes. Similar laws apply in Northern Ireland and some 20 organisations campaigned for new laws to cover England and Wales. Following the “Langley inquiry” into dog attacks on postal workers, the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 was extended in May 2014 to private property, meaning people such as postal workers and telecom engineers now have protection under the law. The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 also gives powers to police and local authorities to help them to act early and stop dog attacks before they happen. In addition, it has introduced compulsory microchipping (from April 2016), to promote responsible dog ownership and help identify owners of dogs which attack people and animals.



The communication workers’ union CWU has been campaigning for many years for better protection of workers from dangerous dogs. It represents the largest group of dog attack victims in the UK, with around 4,000 members — postal and telecom workers — attacked every year. The union welcomed Sentencing Council guidelines recommending harsher punishments be handed down to owners convicted of dangerous dog offences. The union has been waging its long-running Bite Back campaign to extend the remit of the law and increase penalties. From July 2016, when the guidelines came into force, the maximum prison sentence for a dangerous dog offence where someone is killed rose from two to 14 years, and where someone is injured from two to five years.


The guidelines also encourage courts to use their powers to ban people from keeping dogs where appropriate.