Scottish Government launches dangerous dogs review following Clyde News campaign

A review of Scotland's dog control laws is being launched by the Scottish Government as our Lead the Way campaign celebrates another major victory.

The Minister for Community Safety Ash Denham's launching the consultation following pressure from our campaign.

We uncovered figures which show thousands of kids are being attacked and left with life changing injuries in Scotland every year.

There has only been 42 convictions under current laws in the last 8 years despite the introduction of the legislation in 2010.

SNP MSP Alex Neil, who first introduced the act as a Members Bill, said: "We want the Scottish Government to give a commitment to take urgent action where it's needed to do what we can as quickly as possible. A good example of that is creating the national database, which should have been created a long time ago, to track dangerous dogs when they move from one area to another.

"All of this legislation is now well out of date and has to be brought up to date but to do that we need some independent inquiry into all of dogs legislation so we make it fit for purpose in the 21st century.

"One of the things that can be done quickly is to say to the police to tell officers what powers they have to deal with dangerous dogs. We know from the inquiry that currently doesn't happened.

"We cannot go on the way we are going. This is a major problem. We need to take action and we need to take it as fast as possible."

A Holyrood committee has already looked into the issue and declared a 'national crisis', forcing the Scottish Government to take action.

Minister for Community Safety Ash Denham said: “We are holding two reviews into dog control legislation because we are absolutely determined to help keep communities safe from irresponsible owners and their out of control dogs.

“This consultation seeks views on improvements on how the Control of Dogs Act 2010 can operate across Scotland and next year we will take a wider look at all dog control legislation to assess whether changes are needed.

“Owning a dog brings with it certain responsibilities, including keeping your dog under effective control, and I encourage everyone with an interest in this area to respond to our consultation."

MSPs will also debate this at Holyrood next week.

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