Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

 

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting or restricting certain types of dogs and codifying the criminal offence of allowing a dog of any breed to be dangerously out of control. After eleven horrific attacks in 1991, Home Secretary Kenneth Baker promised "to rid the country of the menace of these fighting dogs". The Act has been controversial for failing to stem the rise of dog attacks and for focusing on a dog's breed or looks instead of an individual dog's behaviour.

Introduction

The 1991 act was introduced by then Home Secretary Kenneth Baker, and was amended in 1997. The Act applies in England, Wales and Scotland, with The Dangerous Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 having a similar effect in Northern Ireland. The intention of the Act was the protection of the people. Prior to the Act there were no criminal penalties for injuries or deaths caused by dog attacks.

In summary:

• Section 1, Dogs bred for fighting, prohibits the ownership of certain types of dogs, unless exempted on the Index of Exempt Dogs. It was intended to have a preventative effect.

• Section 2, Keeping dogs under proper control, creates a criminal offence of allowing any dog (of any breed or type) to be dangerously out of control, and legal action may be taken against the dog's owner.

• Section 3, Destruction and disqualification orders, covers orders for destruction of dogs, and orders for prohibiting offenders from the keeping of dogs for a period of time.

Britain has a long history of various dog legislation in attempts to protect the public. In the ninth century, dog-owners were fined if their dog bit a person. In 1839, fines were exacted for allowing dogs to run loose in London, and owners were liable if their unmuzzled dog attacked a person or other animal. In 1847, it became a criminal offence to let a dangerous dog run loose. The power to confiscate dogs was introduced in 1871. Prohibition of owning a dog as a penalty was available in 1989. The 1991 Act banned four types of dog, and made it an offence for an owner to allow any dog "to be dangerously out of control". In 1997, the Act was amended, relaxing rules and giving courts more flexibility about euthanasia orders. And in 2006, local authorities were empowered to ban dogs from certain public areas to reduce menace and fouling by dogs.

Section 1 (Breed Specific Legislation)

Under the Act, it is illegal to own certain dogs without an exemption from a court. The Act bans the breeding, sale and exchange of these dogs, even if they are on the Index of Exempted Dogs.

The Act applies to four types of dogs:

• Pit Bull Terrier

• Japanese Tosa

• Dogo Argentino

• Fila Brasileiro

 

The first two are explicitly mentioned in the Act, and the final two were added by the Secretary of State in 1991.

The Act also covers cross-breeds of the above four types of dog. Dangerous dogs are classified by "type", not by breed label. This means that whether a dog is prohibited under the Act will depend on a judgement about its physical characteristics, and whether they match the description of a prohibited "type". This assessment of the physical characteristics is made by a Dog Legislation Officer (DLO), a police officer experienced in dog handling and dog legislation, who assists in the investigation of dog-related allegations of crime.

On 15 September 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that American XL Bullies would be added to the Dangerous Dogs Act.

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Index of Exempted Dogs

The process for getting a Section 1 dog exempted includes proving to the court that the dog is not a danger to public safety, that it is owned by a 'fit and proper' person to be in charge of a dog, that the dog is already neutered and microchipped, and that the owner has obtained third-party insurance that would cover an incident of bodily injury or death of a person caused by the dog. Ongoing conditions include keeping the dog at the address listed, notifying of address changes, notifying of the death or export of the dog, keeping the dog muzzled and on a lead in public places, keeping the dog securely to prevent escape, and maintaining all previous conditions for the life of the dog.

The Act established the Index of Exempted Dogs and the Animal Welfare section of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) oversees the administration of the Act and the Index.

Initially, dogs born before 30 November 1991 were eligible to be put on the Index of Exempted Dogs (a grandfather clause). Applications were received for over 8,000 dogs; 5,223 dogs received their Certificate of Exemption.] Dogs born after 30 November 1991 were not eligible to be on the Index, and it was expected the Index would cease after the death of the last of the original 5,223 dogs. However, the 1997 amendments expanded eligibility, effectively continuing the Index. As of 2015, there were 3,001 Pit bull terriers on the Index, 6 Dogo Argentinos, 0 Fila Brasilieros, and 3 Japanese Tosas. As of 2018, there were 3,514 Pit bull terriers, 3 Japanese Tosas, 13 Dogo Argentinos, and 0 Fila Brazilieros.

Reception and responses

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the British Veterinary Association are both against the breed-specific legislation provisions of the Act (Section 1), mainly on the basis that there is no scientific evidence that all individuals of a breed are dangerous. However, data from the Metropolitan Police shows that in incidents involving 'dangerously out of control dogs' banned breeds account for about 20% of offences. Defra says there are "a large number of serious cases from a very small population of dogs in circulation, and that is striking evidence that there is an issue with this particular type of dog", while a Member of Parliament said "Despite the fact that dogs on the exempt list must be muzzled in public, that breed still accounts for almost 20% of all reported attacks. We know also that pit bulls have been involved in seven of the 31 fatal attacks that have occurred since 2005. That is highly disproportionate for one type of dog that is banned, and it underlines the need to be cautious about change in this area."

The act only covers dog attacks causing physical injury to a human, not physical injury or death to other animals, and does not cover mental injury to a human witnessing such an attack (PTSD, for example). Efforts have been made to get the law changed. In some cases, injuries to humans have been ignored or not taken seriously by authorities because they were caused during a dog-on-dog attack.

A 2018 proposal by PETA to have the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and American Bulldog added to the list of banned dogs spawned a petition in support of the Staffordshires which garnered 160,000 signatures. The proposal was debated by Parliament and rejected. George Eustice declared, "The Government have no plans at all to add Staffordshire bull terriers, or any other type of dog, to the list of prohibited dogs."

The act has been described as a piece of rushed legislation which was an overreaction to a transient public mood. The Act is sometimes cited as an unfavourable example of such legislation, and in January 2007, the act was included in public responses to a BBC Radio 4 poll of unpopular UK legislation.

A 1992 case involving a dog named Dempsey, a pit bull terrier which three years later had its destruction order reversed, brought interest because of the lack of discretion that the Act gave magistrates regarding Section 1 dogs. Discretion was granted to magistrates with the 1997 amendment to the Act.

In the case of R (Sandhu) v. Isleworth Crown Court [2012], the claimant Sandhu was in prison and sought to nominate a temporary keeper to have his dog. The judicial review held that a person does have the right to nominate a person to temporarily keep the dog. This decision has more recently been more regulated to only allow for temporary keepership in certain circumstances.

 

United Kingdom

Main article: Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

In the United Kingdom the main piece of breed-specific legislation is the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, which makes it illegal to own any 'Specially Controlled Dogs' without specific exemption from a court. The dogs have to be muzzled and kept on a lead in public, they must be registered and insured, neutered, tattooed and receive microchip implants. The Act also bans the breeding, sale and exchange of these dogs, even if they are on the 'Index of Exempted Dogs'.

Two types of dogs are specifically identified by the Act:

• Pit Bull Terrier

• Japanese Tosa

In addition, the Dangerous Dogs (Designated Types) Order 1991, a statutory instrument made under this Act, designated two more types as "appearing to be bred for fighting or to have the characteristics of types bred for that purpose":

• Dogo Argentino

• Fila Brasileiro

The Act also covers cross-breeds of the above four types of dog. Dangerous dogs are classified by "type", not by breed label. This means that whether a dog is prohibited under the Act will depend on a judgement about its physical characteristics, and whether they match the description of a prohibited "type". This assessment of the physical characteristics is made by a court.

The Act applies in England, Wales and Scotland, with the Dangerous Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 having a similar effect in Northern Ireland.

 

 

JAPANESE TOSA

History

This breed originated in the second half of the 19th century. The breed started with the native Shikoku-Inu (an indigenous dog weighing about 25 kilograms (45 pounds) and standing about 55 centimetres high). These dogs were crossed with European dog breeds, such as the Old English Bulldog in 1872, the English Mastiff in 1874, the Saint Bernard and German Pointer in 1876, the Great Dane in 1924, and the Bull Terrier. The aim was to breed a larger, more powerful dog specifically for dog fighting competitions in Japan. The heyday of Tosa breeding was between 1924 and 1933, when it was said that there were more than 5,000 Tosa breeders in Japan.

Foundation Stock:

• Saint Bernard

• Bull Terrier

• Mastiff

• Shikoku-Inu

 

DOGO ARGENTINO

History

In the 1920s Antonio Nores Martinez, a young student of Córdoba in central Argentina, set out to create a new breed of fighting dog. He wanted it to have the fighting qualities of the Old Cordoba Fighting Dog, but with greater size and strength.   He started with a Bull Terrier bitch with considerable fighting ability, which he bred to a spotted fighting dog of bulldog type. He selected and inter-bred their offspring, selecting for white coat colour and rejecting any animal that was retrognathous (undershot). In the eighth generation he introduced a Mastín del Pirineo bitch; by the twelfth generation his dogs were breeding true. They became well known for their success in the ring.   Nores Martinez later introduced crosses with a variety of other dogs including the Irish Wolfhound.

In 1947 he presented his breed to the Club de Cazadores ('hunter's club') of Buenos Aires; in 1948 a breed standard was published in the magazine Diana.

The Dogo was definitively accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1973.

Foundation Stock:

• Cordoba fighting dog

• Great Dane

• Boxer

• Spanish Mastiff

• Old English Bulldog

• Bull Terrier

• Pyrenean Mastiff

• English Pointer

• Irish Wolfhound

• Douge de Bordeaux

 

AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER

History

Until the mid-19th century the since extinct Old English Terriers and Old English Bulldogs were bred together to produce a dog that combined the gameness of the terrier with the strength and athleticism of the bulldog. This type of dog, which was bred in the British Isles, became known as the bull and terrier. These dogs arrived in the United States in the late nineteenth century where they became the direct ancestors of the American Pit Bull Terrier.

In the United Kingdom, bull and terriers were used in bloodsports such as bull baiting and bear baiting. These bloodsports were banned in 1835 when Britain introduced animal welfare laws. Since dog fighting is cheaper to organize and far easier to conceal from the law than bull or bear baits, bloodsport proponents turned to pitting their dogs against each other instead. Dog fighting was used as both a bloodsport (often involving gambling) and a way to continue to test the quality of their stock. For decades afterwards, dog fighting clandestinely took place in small areas of Britain. These dogs arrived in America around 1845 to 1860, where the dog fighting practice had continuity. On February 10, 1898, the breed was recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC) named as American Pit Bull Terrier.

For some time in the early part of the 20th century the UKC began to register the breed name with the word "pit" in parentheses (American (Pit) Bull Terrier), to facilitate public acceptance as an American Bull Terrier. However this only lasted a short time and returned to the previous form.

In the early 20th century, pit bulls were used as catch dogs in America for semi-wild cattle and hogs, to hunt hogs, and drive livestock, and as family companions.

Pit Bull Terriers fill the role of companion dogs, working dogs, athletic sport dogs (weight pulling, French Ring Sport, Top Dog), police dogs,[19][20] and therapy dogs. Pit Bull Terriers also constitute the majority of dogs used for illegal dog fighting in America In addition, law enforcement organizations report these dogs are used for other nefarious purposes, such as guarding illegal narcotics operations, use against police, and as attack dogs.

In an effort to counter the fighting reputation of pit bull–type dogs, in 1996 the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals renamed pit bull terriers "St. Francis Terriers", hoping that people would be more likely to adopt them. 60 temperament-screened dogs were adopted until the program was halted, after several of the newly adopted pit bulls killed cats. The New York City Center for Animal Care and Control tried a similar approach in 2004, relabelling their pit bulls as "New Yorkies", but dropped the idea in the face of overwhelming public opposition.

Foundation Stock:

• Bull and Terrier

• Old English Bulldog

• Old English Terrier

 

FILA BRASILEIRO

History

The Fila Brasileiro is thought to descend from European dogs brought to Brazil during the Colonial period, with little or no influence from indigenous South American dogs from the Pre-Cabraline era.

The Fila Brasileiro were bred and raised primarily on large plantations and cattle farms where they originated. In addition to cattle, jaguars, and other animals, these dogs were taught to chase down fugitive slaves.

The first written standard of the breed was edited in 1946. The Paulistas were responsible for organizing a planned breeding program and opening a stud book to register dogs. Dr. Paulo Santos Cruz began to systematically breed the Fila Brasileiro and also contributed to setting the CAFIB standard.

 Foundation Stock:

• English Mastiff

• Bulldogs

• Bloodhounds