Union Calls For New Dangerous Dogs Law Following Glasgow Postman Mauling
The Communication Workers Union has called on the Scottish Government to urgently push ahead with plans to introduce new Dangerous Dogs Laws following an incident on Monday when a Postman was savagely attacked by two Japanese Akita dogs in Swinton Crescent, Baillieston, during his delivery round in Glasgow.
Thomas McGrath a Postman with 30 years Royal Mail Service was walking up a garden path to deliver Mail when the dogs escaped from the back garden through an insecure fenced area at the rear of the house and ferociously attacked him before he could reach the front door of the house. Mr McGrath suffered injuries to his face, back and arms with the most serious injury to a wrist and hand requiring surgery at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary where he is recovering from his ordeal. An investigation is underway by Strathclyde Police. The Dogs were destroyed following the attack.
The CWU's National health and safety officer Dave Joyce today said:
"The Control of Dogs (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 22 June and we're calling on the first minister and all political parties to support the Bill but also to facilitate it's swift passage through the Scottish Parliament so it becomes law as soon as possible and then we want the rest of the UK to follow the Scottish lead."
Dave added:
"The existing Laws don't deal with the problem. Postal workers in the UK suffer up to 6000 dog attacks every year, with many resulting in serious injuries. The 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act doesn't fully address the behaviour of irresponsible dog owners like in this case because dog attacks which occur on private property are not covered by the 1991 Act and that's got to change because owners in these cases have immunity from that law. 70% of attacks on Postal workers occur on private premises such as in front garden, on paths and drive ways and some of the most serious dog attacks of recent years have happened on private land. There are a significant number of aggressive dogs and irresponsible owners who need to be dealt with. Importantly, the new Bill puts the onus on the owners, not the dogs, to ensure that attacks like this latest one in Baillieston don't happen. The lack of protection against attacks on private property where a dog is permitted to be is a "gaping hole" in the Dangerous Dogs Act. The current legislation is not working and statistics show that the number of people treated in hospital for dog bites has doubled since the Dangerous Dogs Act was introduced. We want to see owners of aggressive dogs being held to account when they fail to control them and more realistic penalties handed down by the courts when prosecutions take place."
The Control of Dogs (Scotland) Bill, intended to update the law on dangerous dogs, will repeal and replace existing laws and close the current legal loop holes by extending the provisions of the 1991 Act to make it an offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control anywhere in Scotland.
Under the legislative proposals if a person is convicted it could lead to dog owners who let their animals run dangerously out of control being jailed. The court could order a range of penalties, ranging from destroying the dog to re-homing, muzzling, disqualifying the owner from owning a dog, Prison or a fine or compensation order. Under the proposals owners could be liable to pay up to £5000 in compensation for injury or damage. In the most serious cases, they could face an unlimited fine and up to two years in jail.
In addition the law would also operate on a preventative basis and some significant additions are introduced to address irresponsible dog ownership such as enabling 'Control Orders' or Dog ASBOs which can be served on owners of aggressive, dangerous or out of control dogs before they attack some one, ordering the owner to improve their dogs' behaviour and imposing strict conditions of ownership such as muzzling, re-homing, microchipping, owners attending mandatory dog-training courses, keeping the dog on a leash at all times etc. All dogs for which a control order has been issued would have to be microchipped and have details of their owner held on a database. Failure to comply would lead to prosecution.
The Bill was introduced by Christine Grahame MSP with the backing of the CWU and Scottish RSPCA.
Source:CWU
