4.9 Dangerous Dogs

1. Legislation

1.1 Dangerously out of control

Under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (as amended), it is a criminal offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control anywhere, such as:

• in a public place;
• in a private place, for example a neighbour’s house or garden;
• in the owner’s home.

A dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

• injures someone;
• makes someone worried that it might injure them.

A court could also decide that a dog is dangerously out of control if either of the following apply:

• it attacks someone’s animal;
• the owner of an animal thinks they could be injured if they tried to stop your dog attacking their animal.

This applies to all dogs.

1.2 Banned types of dog

It is also a criminal offence to own certain specific types of dog:

• Pit Bull Terrier
• Japanese Tosa
• Dogo Argentino
• Fila Brasileiro

• XL Bully

It is also an offence to:

• sell a banned dog;
• abandon a banned dog;
• give away a banned dog;
• breed from a banned dog.

2. Risk Assessment

It is important to recognise that any dog can present a potential risk of harm to babies and children, and where dogs are present in the home, the risks should be assessed.

Any dog can bite if it is worried or scared and feels it has no other choice.  70% of all dog bites in the UK are to children, making them the most at-risk age group. 91% of bites to children occur within the home by a known dog, often their own dog.  From a dog’s point of view, children behave very differently to adults, being unpredictable and prone to making a lot of noise, meaning supervision by parents/carers within the home and outside is crucial to keeping children safe.

Keeping Children Safe Around Dogs (RSPCA) recommends six ‘golden rules’ for parents / carers to help keep children safe around dogs, including never leaving  your child alone in the same room as a dog, even your own  and always supervise your child when they are with your dog.

Guidance: Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) sets out practical guidance on how to provide a suitable environment for a dog to live in, based on the requirement of Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Dogs may pose a higher risk of harm to children where:

• they are a banned type of dog or are dangerously out of control under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991;
• they are not adequately supervised around children and babies;
• they are kept in unsuitable conditions likely to cause them distress which may result in more aggressive behaviour;
• there is a stressful life event such as the presence of a new baby in the household.

An assessment should consider:

• the conditions in which the dog is kept;
• how they interact with children and babies;
• levels of parent / carer supervision;
• levels of parent/carer understanding around issues of safety and potential for harm to the child;
• any known incidents of aggression by the dog, to the children or to others

Practitioners should ask to see the dog and where / how it is kept.

Assessment of the risks posed by dogs in the household should be an ongoing process not a one-off event as circumstances may change.

3. Safeguarding and Information Sharing

Where there is assessed or known to be a risk of significant harm to a child, or where harm has already occurred such as the dog attacking a child, a referral should be made to children’s social care and safeguarding processes engaged (see Referrals chapter). Relevant agencies should be informed, such as police where there is a known or suspected criminal offence.