This is an Act to prohibit
persons from having in their possession or custody dogs belonging
to types bred for fighting; it imposes restrictions in respect
of such dogs pending the coming into force of the prohibition;
to enable restrictions to be imposed in relation to other types
of dog which present a serious danger to the public; and to make
further provision for securing that dogs are kept under proper
control. By virtue of the Commencement Order, Section 1(3) (prohibition
on possession of specific dogs and compensation for destruction)
shall come into force on November 30th 1991. Other provisions came
into force on August 2th 1991.
Section 1 (Dogs bred for fighting)
provides: (1) This section applies to- (a) any dog of they type known as the pit bull terrier;
(b) any dog of the type known as the Japanese Tosa; and (c) any dog of any type designated for the purposes of this
section by an order of the Secretary of State, being a type appearing
to him to be bred for fighting or to have the characteristics of a
type bred for that purpose.
(2) No person shall- (a) breed, or breed from, a dog which this section
applies;
(b) sell or exchange such a dog or offer, advertise or expose
such a dog for sale or exchange;
(c) make or offer to make a gift of such a dog or advertise
or expose such a dog as a gift;
(d) allow such a dog of which he is the owner for the time
being in charge to be in a public place without a muzzle and kept
on a lead; or
(e) abandon such a dog of which he is the owner or, being
the owner or for the time being in charge of such a dog, allow it
to stray.
Any person who contravenes this section
is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding
level 5 on the standard scale (£2,000) or both.
Section 2 (Other specifically dangerous
dogs) provides that, if it appears to the Secretary
of State that dogs of any type to which section 1 does not apply
present a serious danger to the public, he may by order impose
corresponding restrictions to dogs of that type.
Section 3 (Keeping dogs under proper
control) states:
(1) If a dog is dangerously out of
control in a public place-
(a) the owner; and
(b) if different, the person for the time being in charge
of the dog, is guilty of an offence, if the dog, is guilty of an offence,
or, if the dog while so out of control injures any person, an aggravated
offence under this section.
(2) In proceedings for an offence
under subsection (1) above against a person who is the owner
of a dog but was not at the material time in charge of it, it
shall be a defence for the accused to prove that the dog was at
the material time in charge of a person whom he reasonably believed
to be a fit and proper person to be in charge of it.
