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Dog
lovers lobby grows
A
NEW anti-dog mood in Britain has prompted dog owners to form
campaign groups to fight for their rights.
UK DOG lobby groups are expected to be established in at least
35 areas by the summer, with the intention of covering the whole
country by the end of the year.
The move is in response to rapidly growing restrictions on responsible
dog owners, who are finding it increasingly difficult to exercise
their dogs in open areas such as fields, common land, parks
and beaches. The campaign is being co-ordinated by the Kennel
Club, whose patron is the Queen, and the charity PRO Dogs.
They believe that far from being a nation of dog lovers, the
British are no longer tolerant of dogs or their owners. The
behaviour of dog owners who allow their pets to foul parks and
pavements is affecting the rights of all owners. Dog owners
are therefore being urged to speak out about their concerns
and to lobby their local councils. One of their priorities is
to ensure that local authorities enforce dog fouling laws and
penalise offending owners.
Another threat is "right to roam" legislation due
to come into force by the end of next year. Local access forums
are being set up to decide which parks will be open for walkers,
including dog walkers.
The Kennel Club and PRO Dogs are lobbying the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to scrap rules that will
prevent owners from exercising their dogs without a lead for
five months of the year when birds are ground nesting.
They say that dogs off their leads are no threat to birds and
accuse the Government of being overly influenced by landowners
and environmental groups. UK DOG plans to exert pressure on
local decision-making groups and find a compromise.
Dog owners are also concerned about Breed Specific Legislation
on the Continent to ban the ownership of breeds such as the
Staffordshire Bull Terrier. As previously reported, there is
already a ban on SBTs and other breeds in Germany, and Norway
is introducing a similar ban. Many British dog owners fear that
the EU may seek to implement a similar EU-wide edict.
Plans by the Greater London Authority to introduce a licence
for anyone owning more than four dogs have also angered the
dog groups. They have called on the Department for Environment
to intervene and impose a national law. They believe that a
licence should be compulsory only for people who own or walk
ten dogs.
Phil Buckley of the Kennel Club press office said: "There
is no doubt we are detecting a country that is anti-dog. I own
a Staffordshire bull terrier and I get verbally abused for owning
a dangerous dog at least once a week. This attitude is spreading,
and it is affecting the right to walk dogs in many areas.
"It’s not just about parks. You can go on a footpath
or right-of-way in the country and find obstacles for dogs.
We know there are irresponsible owners but they are in the minority
and responsible owners are having to suffer."
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