The Dangerous Dogs Act – Be aware of how it could apply to you and your dog even if your dog is acting fearfully and has innocently worried someone!
It is more important than ever to understand the current law and how it can be interpreted. Under the Act it is illegal for a dog to be “out of control” or to bite or attack someone. OK, so this may seem obvious, but the legislation now makes it an offence if a person is “worried or afraid” of a dog and they feel that it is out of control.
‘Dangerously out of control’ is defined as being ‘on any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person or assistance dog’. The important part of the phrase is that there can be “reasonable apprehension” that a dog will bite – so dogs must be under control at all times and in all places – including on private property.