Dangerous dogs success

I'm pleased to be able to report some success for the work the West Putney Safer Neighbourhoods team and I have put into tackling the dangerous dog problem on the Dover House estate documented here.

Following the attack on The Pleasance last October, the Police worked hard to identify several addresses in the area that possibly housed dangerous dogs. After obtaining search warrants under section 5 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and each of these homes was called upon by the Safer Neighbourhood Team and the Police Dog Support Unit.

At one of these addresses, aPitbull type dog was seized by police and the owner prosecuted under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. If someone is found to be in possession of an illegal dog or allows their dog to be dangerously out of control then not only may they be committing offences, but they may be in breach of their tenancy agreements with Wandsworth Council.

It's important that this work has been done to reassure residents and - more importantly - get action on this issue which is so worrying to so many.

Another dog attack - but the answer remains the same

I've just got word of another dangerous dog attack - this time on the Putney Vale estate in Roehampton.

I'm glad to hear that the pensioner attacked is recovering, that the Police know who the owner and walker were of the dogs in question, and that legal action is proceeding against them.

Putney Vale is probably the most isolated community the constituency, tucked as it is right at the bottom of the Hill on the border with Kingston. Because of this, I'm concerned it gets overlooked: it's as important a part of Roehampton as the Alton estate, Village and Priory Lane area are and the Police, Dog Wardens and Safer Neighbourhood teams must give it the same level of service as any other part of the borough.

This attack again shows that ideas for licensing - be they the outrageous £500 fee the Council wants to fleece from dog owners- or notions that dogs above a certain weight be banned, are wide of the mark: his lady was attacked by small bull terriers, not Dobermans or Rottweillers.

The answer is a higher police and dog warden presence on our streets; one rule for all, not picking on council tenants as the Conservative council wants to - serious prison sentences and lifetime bans for dog owners who mistreat their pets; and much greater clarity on banned breeds because it's incredibly difficult to identify some permitted terrier types from "dangerous" ones.

Here's how the Wandsworth Guardian is reporting the incident.

Dangerous dogs

Following last year's dangerous dog attack on the Dover House Estate, the Council last week announced it would evict tenants who own potentially dangerous dogs.

We all want action on dangerous dogs. But dogs are not dangerous by dint of their birth alone - they become so because they are mistreated or bred to fight.

The Council's rules will do nothing to weed out these owners, but they do threaten those with "potentially" - whatever that means - dangerous dogs that have never so much as snarled in anger or aggression before, and are properly controlled by responsible owners.

These rules will also only apply to council tenants. Homeowners and housing association tenants are exempt. So on the Dover House estate these measures will affect virtually no-one because the overwhelming majority of homes here have been sold-off by the council. And while a council tenant with a potentially dangerous dog may face eviction, their next door neighbour who is a leaseholder with a genuinely dangerous dog will remain untouched. Is that fair? Will it tackle the problem? No on both counts.

The Council's spin doctors will say at least they're doing something. But in this case, the council's guilty of doing something instead of doing something effective. Far better would be a doubling of the budget of their own dog warden service so they can patrol more widely, raise their profile and tackle the problem without picking on one particular section of the community.

I'm not a fan of ever more regulation and nanny-statism: we already have way too much of that. What we need is tougher action on criminals who mistreat their dogs, stronger action against the dog-fighting rings we all know exist in our borough and strong community policing.

Again, our Safer Neighbourhoods Police teams must play a crucial role, working with the dog warden service to achieve these goals. The objective: identifying those who can't control or are mistreating their dogs - and acting before events like those that took place in Putney Park Lane last October happen again.

Dover House dangerous dogs - UPDATE

Yesterday I wrote to everyone in the Dover House estate updating them on the action being taken to deal with the dangerous dogs problem. Here's the text of the letter:

Dear Resident,

You will almost certainly be aware of the shocking incident that took place recently where two dangerous pit-bull types attacked a dog owner and his pet on The Pleasance off Putney Park Lane.

A number of local residents contacted me to express their concern about this incident and to ask what was being done to deal with it, and I am writing to keep you informed.

I spent a great deal of time last week and over the weekend talking with the Police, the Dover House Estate Residents Association and local people.

One of the two pit bull-type dogs was destroyed by the police at the scene; the other has been taken away and is being kept secure in police kennels. A file has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service and legal proceedings may follow. I certainly believe they should given the seriousness of the incident.

I suggested to the police that the Safer Neighbourhoods Police team should undertake additional patrols in the area to provide a visible reassurance to local residents, and this suggestion was accepted, so do please stop and talk to the team when you see them.

If you have an immediate problem with a troublesome dog, contact the Dog Control Unit on 020 8871 7606. If you believe it is dangerously out of control call the Police immediately on 999. The Safer Neighbourhood Police team for the Dover House area can be reached on 020 8721 2760, mobile: 07747 757590, or e-mail: westputney.snt@met.police.uk

Finally, if there are any other local concerns you have do get in touch and I'd be only too happy to see what I can do. My phone number is 020 8788 8961 or write to or email me.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart King

Dover House dangerous dogs

You may have seen the front page feature in the Wandsworth Borough News about the problem of dangerous dogs in the Dover House Estate.

The problem has also generated a lot of comment on the putneysw15.com website discussion forum, and I've been contacted by worried residents, unhappy with the utter lack of interest in this issue from the Conservative MP and Tory councillors.

Today, I've spent a lot of time on conference calls with the police - which were really productive - and will be meeting with residents over the weekend. I'm optimistic that this particular incident, that caused such fear and anger locally, is going to be resolved appropriately and I'll be updating this blog after my weekend meetings to explain a little more about why I think that.

Residents are absolutely right to concerned about the issue of dangerous dogs in the area, and livid at the ambivalence shown by the MP. This issue is EXACTLY the sort of local issue a good constituency MP would be at the heart of getting resolved.

For more on the background to this story, the Borough News story can be read here.