Dog Control

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Services

A designated Environmental Protection Technician is employed from Monday to Friday to deliver a professional service, promoting responsible dog ownership and enforcing existing legislation by:

• responding to all complaints as soon as possible
• collecting and returning stray dogs; where strays are microchipped or wearing visible ID and information is up-to-date, every attempt will be made by the Environmental Protection Technician to reunite them with their owners (£25 statutory fee is payable before dog is released back to owner). Please note, if a dog is seized on more than one occasion, the dog will be impounded and owners will be charged with additional costs
• transferring stray dogs with no visible ID or microchip to Birmingham Dogs Home to serve the statutory seven-day holding period. Owners reclaiming their dogs during this period will be charged a £25 admin fee, along with daily kennelling fees. This is payable to Birmingham Dogs Home upon collection of the dog. Once their suitability has been assessed, dogs that have not been claimed within the statutory holding period will become available for rehoming
• promoting responsible dog ownership through patrols, interaction with dog-owners and dog-walkers, and talks to local groups
• enforcing dog-related by-laws and the Public Spaces Protection (Dog Fouling) Order 2020, which may result in the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices
• signposting customers to relevant services where applicable (such as Environmental Health, Streetscene)
• working in conjunction with a range of external professionals and agencies including local veterinary practices, Orbit Housing, the Police, RSPCA, K9 Search UK, DogLost and rescue and rehoming establishments

The Law

The Control of Dogs Order 1992 states that ‘any dog in a public place should wear the name and address of the owner either inscribed on the collar or name plate or disc attached to it'. A telephone number is optional but advisable. Remember, this is your pet's fastest ticket back home should they go missing. Dog ownership is a privilege that must be taken seriously.

Since 6 April 2016, all dog owners have been required to have their dogs microchipped and registered on an authorised commercial databases. Failure to comply could lead to a £500 fine. As part of this, dog owners are required to register the details of any new owner before they sell or give their dog away. Dog owners also need to keep their contact details up-to-date on the microchip database.

Dangerous Dogs

The amended Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 came into effect on 13 May 2014. This law applies to every single dog owner in England and Wales, regardless of the dog's size or breed. Under Section 3, it is a criminal offence for the person in charge of the dog to allow it to be ‘dangerously out of control' in a public place. A dog does not have to bite to be deemed dangerous in the eyes of the law. Generally, if a dog bites a person, it will be presumed to have been ‘dangerously out of control'; however, even if the dog does not bite, but gives the person grounds to feel that the dog may injure them, the law still applies.

If you have been attacked by a dog, please contact the Police. Dog-on-dog attacks are a civil matter and you may wish to seek legal advice.

Under the Act it is against the law to own certain types of dog, namely the Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Braziliero, without a court exemption. However, the Act judges dogs according to their ‘type' rather than their specific breed. Therefore the Act also covers those having significant physical characteristics of the aforementioned breeds. It is up to the courts to decide the inclusion or exclusion of any particular dog from coverage by the Act, and every dog is judged individually on a case-by-case basis.

Contact

For further information, please contact Environmental Health:

• Email: envhealth@stratford-dc.gov.uk
• Telephone: 01789 267575
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