MP: House owners left powerless by lack of authorized safety towards dog-on-dog assaults
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og house owners are left “powerless and deeply frustrated” by an absence of authorized penalties for dog-on-dog assaults, the Commons has heard.
Conservative Anna Firth advised MPs the legislation must be modified in order that the proprietor accountable in a deadly dog-on-dog assault might be held criminally accountable.
The MP for Southend West in Essex put ahead a 10-minute rule invoice within the House of Commons on Tuesday which she stated would implement the change if enacted, and would additionally require police forces to report dog-on-dog assaults.
She stated her Animal Welfare (Responsibility for Dog Attacks) Bill would amend the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to require an individual in command of a canine to take “all reasonable steps” to make sure their animal doesn’t fatally injure one other canine.
Ms Firth advised the PA news company she started campaigning for what she is asking “Emilie’s law” after a person in her constituency, Michael Joannou, got here to her “incredibly distressed” and “inconsolable” and saying his canine Emilie, also referred to as Millie, had been fatally injured in an assault by one other canine in a neighborhood park.
It just isn’t the canines which might be the issue. Dogs have house owners, and each canine proprietor has a duty to make sure their canine doesn’t fatally assault one other one
She advised the Commons: “Only 14 police forces currently record a dog-on-dog attack as a separate incident. However, of that 14, in 2016, there were 1,700 dog-on-dog attacks reported and recorded.
“Since lockdown, with everyone buying their Covid-19 pandemic puppies, the numbers have skyrocketed. In 2021, the same 14 police forces recorded 11,559 dog-on-dog attacks, a 700% increase.”
She stated stealing the canine may have led to as much as seven years imprisonment, saying: “But because she was brutally torn apart by someone else’s dog, nothing could be done.
“Not surprisingly, this leaves pet owners feeling powerless and deeply frustrated. It’s also no doubt the reason why police forces don’t even record such awful incidences.
“Plainly it is not the dogs that are the problem. Dogs have owners, and every dog owner has a responsibility to ensure their dog does not fatally attack another one.”
She added: “Emilie’s law will empower owners to pursue justice if their beloved pet is brutally attacked, whilst not demonising any particular breed or creating unhelpful stereotypes around certain breeds of dogs.”
She went on: “The Bill will also compel local police forces to record dog-on-dog attacks as separate offences so that finally the full scale of these awful offences can be seen and counted.”
This canine had simply come at her – actually it was like one thing within the Serengeti
Describing the assault on his canine, Mr Joannou advised PA: “It happened in seconds. I was screaming at the owner to remove the dog.
“Somehow the owner did get the dog off. This dog had just come at her – honestly it was like something in the Serengeti.
“When you see a loved one of yours opened up in two and still alive, there’s not a lot worse you can ever experience.”
He stated she was then taken to the vet the place she needed to be put down.
“The police couldn’t do anything,” he stated, pointing to what he considers to be a spot within the legislation, and added: “It means that something you love can be torn apart and killed with no consequences.
“It’s like medieval law.
“This country’s law on it is absolutely pathetic. I’m standing up for it because it’s wrong, and what I’m asking for is right.”