Government Urged To Clarify Plans To Tackle Attacks

Animal bite specialists at Irwin Mitchell have welcomed London Councils’ calls for a change to the penalty for owning dangerous dogs and urged the government to provide clarity on its plans to tackle the issue.

London Council represents more than 30 local authorities and has called for the change, alongside other regulations such as extending current legislation to include dog attacks on private land.

The call has come following a number of calls for the government to examine legislation in related to dangerous dogs and fully outline how it plans to crack down on owners of banned breeds, as well as provide better protection to victims of attacks.

David Urpeth, a Partner who specialises in helping victims from across the UK who have been injured as a result of dog attacks, said it was time for the government to make clear how it is planning to tackle the issue.

He outlined: “There have been a number of high-profile dog attacks in the past year and it is clear that this issue is not one which is just going to go away.

“It is vital that the government works quickly to properly outline what it is going to do to improve legislation related to dangerous dogs, which in turn will help to reduce the number of people who suffer serious physical and psychological injury in attacks involving such animals.

“There were some statements that answers on this issue would come before Easter and sadly it’s clear this is not going to be the case. We hope that ministers can address this as soon as possible.”