'Dangerous Dogs' Debate:

Westminster Hall Session:

A thirty minute debate on the regulation of ‘dangerous dogs’ was held at Westminster Hall  on 19^th October 2011, it was called by Geoffrey Robinson the Labour MP for Coventry North West.

Westminster Hall was opened for debates in 1999, the sessions are open to all members of parliament and are arranged to be constructive rather than confrontational. There are no votes on the issue.

To read through the 31 speeches on this debate and the response from government minister Richard Benyon (Defra) please click here.

To watch the live recording of the session, please click here.

This discussion included the topics of:

 * Extending dangerous dog criminal law to cover all places – private property (e.g., your home & garden) as well as public places which are presently covered under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (as amended).

 * Introducing the compulsory micro-chipping of dogs.

 * Consolidating all previous laws relating to dogs to produce one up-to-date piece of legislation.

 * Dog owners being able to apply to the court to add their dog to the Index of Exempted Dogs, the seizure of prohibited dog & costs.

The Government responded that they will make an announcement soon on reforming measures to deal with dangerous dogs.

Dog Control Bill 2010-2011

The Dog Control Bill 2010 - 2011 was tabled as a Private Members' Bill in 2010 and is sponsored by Lord Redesdale.

The Bill started in the House of Lords, if it became law (an Act) it would apply to England and Wales.

To date the Bill has progressed through the House of Lords as follows:

First reading - took place on 26th May 2010
Second reading - took place on 9th July 2010
Committee stage - 4th March 2011
Report stage - a line by line examination of the Bill was heard on 10th June 2011
Third reading - is scheduled for 26th October 2011

A copy of this Bill, as amended at Report stage on 13th June 2011 is available to read online here.

Once all stages are completed in the House of Lords, an MP would need to adopt the Bill and it may continue into the House of Commons on the next stage of its journey.

Lords Private Members' Bills don't have priority over Bills introduced in the Commons, a Bill can run out of time  as there are strict restrictions on the amount of parliamentary time allocated to Private Members' Bills during each session.

As the Bill currently stands, it would repeal and replace the following legislation:
the Dogs Act 1871, the Dangerous Dogs Act 1989, the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and the Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Act 1997.

Lennox-Case Ongoing:

Further to our last update, it is confirmed that legal action regarding pet dog Lennox, is ongoing.

Following on from the last court hearing on 30th September, where the appeal (against a destruction order) was dismissed by Judge Rodgers, a set time (14 days in NI) in which to lodge a further appeal was given; this is normal procedure in legal proceedings of this nature.

Appeals at this level can be lodged on a point of law via way of case stated, paperwork has been submitted and the case is ongoing.

Court destruction orders are not enforced whilst legal proceedings are ongoing.

An appeal at this level in the court system, once granted leave (permission has to be given by the court) would review whether there has been an error in the way the law has been applied to a specific case.

We have received many emails on this subject asking questions regarding the legislation in the UK and understand that many people are outraged and upset:

As an organisation involved with breed specific legislation legal hearings and campaigns, we have studied in depth the law in Northern Ireland for some time, corresponded with DARD and followed the progress of the Dogs Amendment 2011 (NI), we have forwarded our findings and liaised with a barrister, experienced with canine cases, here in England.

As this is very much an ongoing legal case where a innocent dog's life hangs in the balance we will not be stating our thoughts regarding the Judgment which has been posted on the Internet via the Belfast City Council web site, as requested to do so via many emails received-we have submitted our opinions based on our research on both current law and case law directly to those involved.

If you haven't already signed the petition to support Lennox, please take a few moments to do so and share with your family and friends. Petition here.

Meanwhile Lennox remains held, his family awaits further news as do his thousands of supporters around the world.

Belfast Telegraph News 20/10/11

Lennox Update:

The court gave its Judgement on Friday 30th September. Sadly, the original destruction order was upheld.

The legal team for Lennox will no doubt be studying the wording of the Judgement to ascertain whether there are grounds for any further legal action in an effort to save Lennox from the death penalty.

There are 14 days in which to lodge an appeal, whilst legal proceedings are ongoing, Lennox will be kept alive and remain held.

We have received a large number of emails regarding the situation and will try to respond to them all-please bear with us.

Please also bear in mind that Lennox's family need a little space to deal with this latest news.

Export of Lennox does not appear to be an option, there have been several offers put forward from people trying to help, the court has ordered destruction and then this order has been upheld at the latest appeal hearing.

Northern Ireland has its own breed specific legislation-it is similiar to that in England, Wales and Scotland, but not the same.

The legislation affecting Lennox is as follows:

The Dogs Northern Ireland Order 1983
Dangerous Dogs Act Northern Ireland Order 1991
Dogs Amendment Act NI 2001
Dogs Amendment Act NI 2011