Dog owners may face prosecution

Dog owners face prosecution if their pet frightens a child retrieving a football from their garden.

A crackdown on dangerous dogs aims to protect workers like postmen from being attacked while doing their job.
But the threat of court action against someone whose dog ‘nips, bites or barks’ someone means home owners could be charged if a child is started by a pet.

Campaigners warn dogs cannot distinguish between a genuine intruder and a child collecting a ball, and warned innocent owners could be prosecuted as a result.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs insists police and the Crown Prosecution Service will be free to decide whether prosecution is in the public interest.
But the government has confirmed that a legal action could be ordered if a dog scares a child.

David Heath, the agriculture minister, said: ‘We certainly want to deal with the issue of the postman or the political canvasser who gets bitten by a dog out in the yard or garden, where they have perfectly legitimate business.
‘But we also do not want to penalise the householder whose dog is doing its job of protecting property against an intruder.

‘Getting that balance right is critical. When someone is within a house, it can reasonably be assumed that unless they have been invited in, they must give a strong argument for why they have legitimate business in the house.’

Speaking to the Commons last month Mr Heath added: ‘It is different for a garden, or sometimes even a shed. A child going to pick up a football that has been kicked into a garden should not be set upon by a dangerous dog.

‘They may be an intruder, but they are nevertheless not a burglar or anyone with malicious intent. A public–interest test must be satisfied before a prosecution can be brought. I hope that the guidance to the prosecuting authority will make that distinction clear,' The Daily Telegraph reported.

Tougher rules on dogs were ordered earlier this year after 14-year-old Jade Anderson was killed by five dogs in a house in Wigan.
Every year the NHS spends £3million treating dog attack injuries while more than 200,000 people a are thought to be bitten every annually.

Trevor Cooper, a dog law specialist for Dogs Trust, said: ‘The difficulty for dog owners is in how they can anticipate a child coming in to their garden.
‘What can a dog owner do to prevent it? Put the dog in a cage in the garden or build large fences? That would be unacceptable for us.

‘The Government is going to have to work out a way of not criminalising dog owners if they have done nothing wrong.
‘It's quite difficult for a dog to distinguish between a lawful and unlawful visitor. I would hope that common sense will prevail.

‘Dogs Trust has long campaigned not only for a complete overhaul of the Dangerous Dogs Act, but a thorough consolidation of dog legislation to provide better protection for dogs, their owners, and the general public.
‘Greater clarity on the proposed changes is also needed in order to aid dog owners’ understanding of the changes in the law.’




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When i was a child and kicked my football over the fence in to my neighbors garden, i would go a knock on the front door and ask politely for my ball back, not just go in there garden.
I have been told my a friend to put notices up front and back that a dog lives hear, i have done this.

Mmmmm....I have taken the pessimistic view that not everyone can read, and if they can, do they. So I have high fences backed up by high steel railings with pointy bits that you can see over the top of the fence.
Dogs not allowed in front garden unless they are on a lead and are usually just passing through to the house.
That way if some DOES choose to climb my six foot fence and risk the pointy bits then they are obviously not paying a social call.

I've always that that 'adequate fencing or walling' should not just keep your dog IN, it should also keep others OUT. To be honest, if a small child can get into a yard or garden where a potentially dangerous dog is loose I don't consider that that dog is safely contained in there.

Ditto.
I wouldnt have dreamed of hopping into someone elses garden - dog there or not!
Certainly wouldn't be pleased if I found nexts doors kids milling around my garden....

Balls get kicked into my garden occasionally, little guy knocks the door and I get it for him. Have a lock on my back gate and there' s no other way in.Thinking Lacey would probably lick him to death anyway. Not sure what you can do to prevent a dog from barking though,surely that's their way of letting you know someone is there.

The only way into my back garden would be over a 7 foot high side gate or over the 6 foot fence topped with 2 foot of trellis with very small spaces between the slats, too small to get a foot into anyway. I would be extremely annoyed to find a child of any age in my back garden and would tell them and their parents so in no uncertain terms. I did have an issue about 18 months to 2 years ago with the kids from next door, who had climbed onto my shed roof, hence the addition of the trellis. My dogs went absolutely mental at them, so they were too scared to venture any further. I told the parents to control their children, that is not my job or my dogs job.
I do agree that people should be allowed to go about their legitimate business without fear of being attacked but there are only so many measures a person can take to keep intruders out and your back garden should be out of bounds to anyone if the gate is locked and you have adequate fences.

Same here we were taught to knock and ask if no one in we had to wait.
We have a lock on our back gate and the walls are not easy to scale our garden is in a dip and it is quite a drop over the side.
Michael tried it once and said never again.

Dillon is not let into our front garden unsupervised.

I agree with everything everyone has said above. At the end of the day, I own my garden, I'm responsible enough to stop anyone getting IN, as well as my dog getting OUT. It's not a crime to keep a dog as long as you take the necessary precautions, cos I know darn well, my dog would 'ave 'em! Whatever happened to "your home is your castle", my dog is never going to enjoy HER garden stuck in a cage if that's what they're after let them teach their kids some respect and manners imo

People who have gardens that kids can just walk into shouldn't have dogs so prosecute the owners of the kids not the dogs!

If an intruder gets into my back garden they better hope it would be my dogs that got them before I did.
Mind you mine would just lick them and look for treats.