Tuesday 3 July 2012

Your dog in Your home

I was stopped this morning by a gentleman who wanted to make a huge fuss of Cairid (well who wouldn't, he is a handsome big fella!).
He told me tearfully that he had to have his own dog put down recently. I asked him why. Apparently someone came in his back door to 'see what was worth taking' and the dog bit him. The result was that the dog had to be put to sleep. Surely not I thought, but this man was very upset.

On looking into it, its true, especially for Scotland. The Scottish Government was emailed for clarification of the matter, and we received the following reply :

'Many thanks for your email. While it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment or intervene in specific cases, I can provide you with some general advice on this matter. Ultimately, the decision on whether a dog should be euthanised after biting an intruder/any person would rest with the court. The court has the power, on conviction to order the destruction of the dog if it is considered dangerous. An appeal procedure is built in to the provision to allow for a person to contest a disqualification order or a destruction order'.

Section 10 of the Control of Dogs (Scotland)Act 2010 amends section 3(1) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 so that a dog owner or the person in charge of the dog for the time being can be held criminally responsible where a dog is found to be dangerously out of control IN ANY PLACE rather than only a public place or private place where a dog is not permitted to be.

All this seems to lead to the fact that it is fairly pointless to put up a sign on your door/gate etc saying 'beware of the dog' as this section contends that liability will be incurred IN ANY PLACE. That said, it would presumably help the case if these signs were in fact displayed in a prominent position on your premises.

Any thoughts on this subject?

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