Dangerous Dogs Guide

The Government has published new guidance to help Police and councils like Wandsworth enforce Dangerous Dogs laws.

Written in association with the police, the RSPCA and local authorities, the guidance sets out the current law and provides advice on how the legislation can be used effectively to improve enforcement.

The guidance:

• Provides an outline of the law on dangerous dogs, including an explanation of 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act and the 1871 Dogs Act;
• Sets out best practice for the main enforcement authorities: the police and local authorities;
• Provides guidance on identifying pit bull terrier-type dogs; and
• Provides examples of existing local initiatives - including Wandsworth's

This booklet - which you can download here - is really helpful because the answer to a problem isn't always to rush out new legislation when we haven't yet done all we can to enforce existing laws. That's why when Putney Conservatives called for a new dog license that would cost all dog owners up to £400 I said no and the plans were swiftly dropped.

Last year I met with the then-Minister responsible for laws governing dangerous dogs because of the incidents of dog attacks that took place in Roehampton and West Putney. Dogs play an important role in our communities so it's vital that people feel safe when they see dogs out and about with their owners.

Visit the government's web pages on dog control here.

Unleashing my Dogs campaign on Westminster

Last week I met with the Minister responsible for reining-in Dangerous Dogs, Jonathan Shaw MP, to highlight the problem there is in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields and talk him through some of the responses you've been sending in to me.

We talked about some of the possible solutions; the Minister agreed with me that the Conservatives' plan for a £500-per-pet Dog Tax is ridiculous and unfair; but lots of respondents to my survey have supported the far cheaper idea of microchipping.

Since I brought up the idea of microchipping in this campaign, Wandsworth's Tory council has announced it plans to compel all its tenants to microchip their dogs. The problem with this is that while council tenants with well-behaved, properly controlled dogs will be forced to pay up or face eviction, home-owners and private tenants with dangerous dogs will escape scott-free.

It is unfair, pernicious and stereotypical to pick on one pretty small part of the community while ignoring the vast majority. But that's the Tories for you: preferring to be seen to do something instead of doing something EFFECTIVE. I think this problem needs a comprehensive answer - and that means tackling dangerous dogs whoever owns them.

The Minister and I will be meeting again once all the responses have been collated, so if you want to have your say direect to Government either write to me at 35 Felsham Road, London SW15 1AY or fill in my online Danger Dogs survey here.

Tell me what you think about dangerous dogs

One of the features in the new edition of The Putney Paper is about Dangerous Dogs. I know what an important issue this is all around the constituency - not just because constituents have been attacked by out of control dogs, but because the intimidation such dogs instil among residents goes far wider.

I think the Conservatives, who publicly boast that they want to introduce a £500 per pet Dog Tax, levied on all dogs they choose to define as "menacing", is utterly misguided. It seems they're trying to milk a legitimate concern for all it's worth.

I think that if registering dogs is needed - and I'm not convinced it is - microchipping, which would cost a more reasonable £25 and would also help return lost dogs to their owners quickly, is a better deal.

But the key issue here is actually not dogs: it's the tiny minority of irresponsible owners. Brutally mistreated, or deliberately trained to attack, pretty much any dog is going to become dangerous, sooner or later. It's owners who are responsible for dangerous dogs, and fortunately it's a tiny minority who behave irresponsibly. But we must crack down on that minority.

So I've set up a survey - and I'd really appreciate a few minutes of your time to give me your views. Just go to stuartking.net/dogsurvey. Thanks.

Summer's Putney Paper: out now

The latest edition of The Putney Paperhas begun hitting the streets. This edition sets out my concerns about the threat to the character of our community from plans to build high rise tower blocks all around the constituency.

I also continue exposing the Conservatives' neglect of Putney's roads and there's a major feature on tackling dangerous dogs.

I think Conservative plans to introduce a Dog Tax: a £500 license for any dog their bureaucrats consider "menacing" is just milking public fear over dangerous dogs to fleece responsible dog owners. Instead, I set out how I think the minority of irresponsible dog owners should be tackled and seek your views.

Plus, next month the NHS is 60 years old. Launched by Labour Health Secretary Aneurin Bevan in 1948 we celebrate one of Britain's greatest institutions.

There's also the usual news roundup from across the constituency, more on our Safer Neighbourhood Police teams' successes and su doku makes a comeback!

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.

Monitoring progress

Whenever I make progress on an issue I've covered on this site I add an update to the story. However, because posts are sorted chronoligically it's sometimes easy to lose track of where we've got to and how far we've come.

So over the next few weeks, as well as maintaining the daily news updates, I'll also be compiling issue threads, which you'll be able to access from the sidebar - so far I've added:

• The Newlands Hall campaign
• Dangerous dogs and
• Save Southside's local shops

I'll also eventually file stories by council ward, so you can read all about my work in your patch more easily. By building up these issue threads, I hope to demonstrate my track record of work on local problems.

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.

Putney in the news

Putney has been in the news twice today. BBC London News this evening led with a story on dangerous dogs and featured the attack on The Pleasance last month. It was good to see the victim of the attack recovering well.

You can watch the BBC News story here or read the summary of the story on the BBC website here.

We also learned today that fifteen years after the horrific murder of Rachel Nickel on Wimbledon Common, part of which is in the constituency, someone has been charged with the crime. My thoughts tonight are with both Rachel's family but also with Roehampton resident Colin Stagg who was falsely accused of her murder at the time and who has been persecuted ever since. While no one has yet been convicted and we need to be careful with what we say until they are, this must have been a day Mr Stagg has long waited for.

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.