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Merseyside Police Launch Dangerous Dogs Campaign Videos

Liverpool and Wirral have been named as Dangerous Dogs capitol of England as a result of the increasing number of injuries and deaths caused by out of control dangerous dogs.

It is estimated by police that on Merseyside, at east one person per day is bitten by an out of control dog.

Injuries such as lost fingers, limb amputations, scarring on face and body are sustained by too many workers and members of the public. In worst cases, deaths occur. The mental health damage and financial damage victims of such attacks by dogs that have not been treated or trained properly, nor kept in good environments for the specific breed of dog; are both wildly ignored by media reports.

CWU's local Area Safety Rep Jamie McGovern and Merseyside Dog Safety Partnership and other organisations concerned about dog safety, work in partnership with Merseyside Police in a campaign with the aim of cutting dangerous dog attacks and prosecuting bad owners.

As a result, Merseyside Police have introduced a video series entitled 'Take The Lead' which is aimed at educating the public thinking of buying a dog, and dog owners about the responsibility they have and on how to source good breeders, look after their pets and to ensure their pet is safe, happy and well looked after. This is a major way to reduce attacks by dangerously out of control dogs.

Here is just one of their videos which features a CWU Postal worker Mark Evans for very good reasons as these delivery workers are subjected to an estimated 2,500-3,000 dog bites a year across the UK.

Speaking to the Sunday Times on 5th February this year, CWU's National Health, Safety & Environment Officer said:

“Dog attacks and dog control law and order is a national crisis in this country. It’s out of control.

Every day I wake up and I think this is the day when I’m going to get that call to say that one of our members has been killed. I’m sick of the words of sympathy from police and politicians every time there is a dog attack death.

It’s not enough. The victims are being denied justice. How much further is the government going to allow this to progress before something is done about it? When a dog bites one of our members we are too often faced with police forces who are reluctant to prosecute the owner. Perhaps due to the backlog of cases in the legal system, lack of police resources, other priorities etc.

The police too often try to dispose of dog attack cases quickly and try to get the victim to drop the case and instead accept the police issuing a ‘police caution’ or a ‘community resolution order’, which are informal ways of dealing with what is actually a very serious offence.

Enforcement of the law is woefully poor. The courts don’t hand down appropriate sentences. They don’t ban dog owners from owning dogs, they don’t issue compensation orders. It’s completely inconsistent.”

Source: CWU / Merseyside Police

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