Should Children Be Given Training To Avoid Dog Bites?

Over 7,000 children under the age of 18 were hospitalised last year for dog bites, according to the NHS. Now a parliamentary committee has recommended new training to keep families safe around pets.

The Commons Environment Committee found that children under 9 were more likely to be hurt than any other age group, sometimes with life-changing injuries. They also suggest that training should be part of the national curriculum to stop the increase in admissions. 4,110 children were hospitalised in 2005, an 80% increase over the last 12 years.

Other recommendations included awareness courses for owners, similar to speeding remedial courses. They also want an independent review into dog attacks for a new piece of legislation to replace the 1991 Dangerous Dog Act.

Chair of the committee, Neil Parish MP, said the current legislation was a “death sentence” for many family pets and good-natured dogs who are put down purely because of their breed. He also said that “evidence from across the world shows that the government should focus instead on encouraging responsible ownership, improving education and ensuring offenders face robust penalties.”

The Dog Trust has already given advice on how parents should teach their children about dog safety:

  • Don’t go near a dog you don’t know
  • Only pat or play with a dog if they have asked the owner
  • Never leave young children unsupervised with any dog
  • Don’t let them tease their dog or play too roughly with it
  • Don’t go near or disturb a dog that is sleeping, eating, ill or injured

But the government says there are no plans to make dog safety part of the national curriculum. The committee also found that schools were unprepared to teach this topic, resulting in patchy results across the UK. Charities say teaching material is readily available, but aren’t being taught consistently.

Some members of the committee argued that responsibility should lie on owners, not children. Tackling reckless and dangerous owners should be the focus point of education rather than in schools. Charities and even police forces should take on owners whose dogs are deemed high risk or who have been involved in previous attacks.

So what do you think? Should children be given training across the board to combat any risk? Or do you think children are ok as is?

Animal Welfare Act 2018 – What Will The Effects Be?

The new Animal Welfare Act 2018 has come into effect as of 1st October 2018, and it will have an impact on the way dogs are bred and sold in the UK. There have been many advances in the understanding of dog welfare since previous acts, the most recent of which came into force 19 years ago. The new legislation has been welcomed by animal welfare organisations, but what will it mean for you?

The key reforms

There is now a single licence for the selling, breeding and boarding of dogs, including for home boarders and daycare companies. The practice legislation for these activities has been updated with the help of animal welfare charities, implementing key requirements from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) Model Licence Conditions as law.

Licences will now be issued as fixed-term, starting from any point during the year to prevent a build-up of inspections coming at a single time of year. And local authorities will utilise a risk-based approach to issuing licences, facilitating lower risk and higher performing operators being permitted to hold a licence for longer, and with fewer inspections. This will be an incentive for higher standards and reduce the burden on local authorities.

There will be no puppies sold before they reach 8 weeks of age under any circumstances. Anyone who breeds 3+ litters will need a licence (down from 5+), and anyone making money from breeding and selling will need to be licensed, regardless of how many litters they produce.

The advertising of pet sales online will be more closely monitored to ensure it is legal and ethical. This will include licensed sellers being made to disclose their licence numbers.

Will the new regulations make a difference?

It is important these new regulations are conveyed to the public to ensure they have the maximum positive impact. Businesses and local authorities also need to be fully briefed to enable them to remain fully compliant at all times.

Moving forward, there are calls for the government to build on the good work of the new Animal Welfare Act 2018. Animal welfare groups would like to see similar regulations introduced for rehoming organisations, dog walkers, dog groomers and hydrotherapy institutions. You can see the full Animal Welfare Act 2018 here.