We recently submitted a response to the Scottish Government’s Dangerous Dogs Consultation.
We support placing an absolute responsibility on dog owners as to the behaviour of their dogs.
We support this in favour of the current legislation in Scotland, which only places responsibility on the owner if there has been ‘reasonable apprehension’ of an attack.
We are aware that the existence of this requirement (as part of the the current legislation) proves to be a difficult evidential hurdle, which can result in prosecutions not being proceeded with, regardless of the severity of the attack.
We are also aware that legislation in England and Wales does not have to prove ‘reasonable apprehension’ and is considered to work effectively.