Surprise Surprise

Hi I was very surprised to hear,that the young girl that got killed in her mates house by her dogs.

It seems the owner cannot be charged for man-slaughter and walked free from court as it was in a private home and not on public soil,they also cant destroy the dogs unless they also are out in public,but the dogs were outside and were duly dealt with.

I remember a case in London,where a twelve year old broke in and the ladies dogs were running free and the dogs attacked the boy,her dogs were taken away,and she was brought to court,and the only reason she was taken to court was because of a warning sign on her front door,gate and back gate,the court saw that as her admitting that there was a danger from her dogs to people going on her property which to my mind is mad.How many times do people buy these signs maybe just because it shows a cartoon of a dog,I mean there is a sign saying Dangerous Dog here and shows a chihauhau,we dont buy these signs to act as a disclaimer,but it seems in the eye of the law,we are guilty of keeping a dangerous animal if we put a sign up,thank goodness this ladies case got dismissed,not sure of the fate of her dogs.Gemini54

Well you've opened a can of worms there Gemini54.

The law was very clear that the Dangerous Dogs Act (updated) only covers dogs in public places not on private land (I assume to protect guard dogs or perhaps any dog that is protecting it's owner's home in the event of a burglary) and that is why the woman in the case to which you first refer was absolved of any blame.

I guess by having a "dangerous dog lives here" posted on your door you are admitting you have a dangerous dog but I am not sure of the distinction between breaking into a house knowing there is a dangerous dog in the house or breaking in and being attacked by a "dangerous" dog that you didn't know about.

The amendment i.e to include private property under the Act worries many of us - how can I be held liable for my dog attacking someone who breaks into my house when I'm not there or even if he is in the garden, I'm upstairs - say - and someone leaps over the garden fence to clear an overhanging tree for instance.

Luckily my dog is human friendly but most dogs if they think their territory is being threatened will attack - I know my last dog would have done, not sure if this one would or not. I hope I never have to test it.

The owner cannot be charged with manslaughter because they did not directly cause the girl's death, the current DDA does not cover private properties so cannot be applied. 2 very simple legal facts.

Here in the UK there is no law that covers this type of incident yet.

When the DDA applies to private property, you could be faced with having to have your dog PTS because it has bitten/attacked/threatened a burglar/housebreaker who has no right to be on your property. 100s of innocent dogs could die because of this.

She hasn't walked entirely free she has been banned infinitely from keeping dogs, which from the court case seems a very fitting sentence

I have read in various places that even having a sign saying 'beware of the dog' is as much as an admission of guilt if one's own dog attacks a person on one's own property, even if they provoked the attack (by, say, breaking in and/or attacking the dog), even if the dogs don't meet the DDA's criteria. Anyone have a good breakdown of this?

Hi It gets worse,and a OAP dog nipped the postman,he is being sued and has already forked out 65,000 pounds now another company is sueing him for compensation.I think sometimes this world is very unfair,I always thought
maybe being a bit naive,that this chap is fragile,and he has no money,there is an old adage you cant get blood out of a stone,Why cant people take in account his age,evidently the postman has been off work with depression,Gemini54

I was advised many years ago by our then beat bobby, not to have beware of the dogs signs, but instead have a sign that showed the international no entry sign & the wording"Dogs running free. Do Not Enter"Even people who cannot read or cannot understand english know that the no entry sign means just that & they then have no excuse. I was also advised to keep all lockable gates locked-which I do

Hi You would be surprised how many dog owners do not know anything about the legal side of keeping a dog,there was a programme on,about leaving dogs alone but it never mentioned that by law you should not leave a dog for more than 4 hours,yes I know,people have to go to work,but if you asked a neigbour or family to pop in during the day,just to let the dog out the dog would be happier and if you were like me when I was working,it used to worry me leaving a dog home alone.

It was refreshing to find that Joedee knows the law pertaining to dogs,a lot of people do not know and end up in hot water if there dog misbehaves, like the OAP he had a picture of a guard dog stating boldly I Live here,and when he got a new postman,who didnt know him or his dog (his dog is a mixture but definately not a doberman)he came unstuck and is now paying for it.Gemini54

On the subject of people who don't know much about the law relating to dogs - where did you come up with that bit of wrong information? That it is illegal to leave a dog at home alone for more than 4hrs?

Because it certainly is not.

A lot of rescues now will not allow people who are out at work for more than 4hrs a day to rehome one of their dogs. But it is not illegal and there are many members of this forum who leave their dogs for that long and even longer while they are out at work.

Perhaps Gemini's vet told her, he seems to be a font of all knowledge

When my husband was a milkman we sued too when a dog bit him, why on earth shouldn't people be compensated when they are bitten ?