Calls for tougher penalties over dangerous dog attacks
Calls have been made for tougher penalties for owners of dangerous dogs that injure or kill.
On Tuesday, a drug dealer whose two American bulldogs killed a Rowley Regis grandmother when they mauled her in her back garden in 2021 was jailed for nearly five years.
Darren Pritchard, 44, was sentenced on Tuesday after earlier pleading guilty to owning two dangerously out of control dogs, possessing cannabis with intent to supply, and producing the drug at an address in the street in Rowley Regis, West Midlands, where Lucille Downer was pronounced dead.
Last month a schoolboy in Featherstone was attacked by a dog and missed some of his GCSEs after being attacked by a dog whilst walking to the shop.
He narrowly escaped more serious injury but needed extensive surgery to try and repair muscle damage to his hand and arm.
It is the latest in a spate of dog attacks in the West Midlands which mirrors the national trend.
New figures show police in the capital are dealing with at least one case a day.
Data shows the Metropolitan Police seized 479 out of control dogs last year – up from 333 in 2021 and 336 in 2019. As of the start of May this year, the force had already seized 154 dogs.
They include 44 American bulldogs so far this year, almost three times the amount of the next most common breed, the Staffordshire bull terrier cross breed.
But the Metropolitan Police figures show that while the number of dangerous dog seizures rose last year, the number of people being charged remains low. The force made 40 arrests for dangerous dogs being out of control in 2002 compared with 186 a decade earlier. Only 16 people were charged, lower than the 20 in 2020.
Last month a group of MPs tabled an early day motion saying the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 was 'woefully ineffective' and called for new laws to protect the public.
But campaign groups have warned against calls to expand the list of banned dog types.
Dr Samantha Gaines, a dog welfare expert at the RSPCA, said breed was not a reliable measure of aggression.
She said: "Any dog, regardless of their breed, has the potential to bite, and whether or not it develops aggressive behaviour is a complex interaction between genetics and lifetime experiences.
“Adding additional dogs to the current list of prohibited types, or measures which seek to manage certain types of dog because they are believed to be more dangerous than others, will not effectively protect the public.”
