Bad Dogs, Chips and Why British Postal Workers Are Rejoicing!

I’ll be the first to admit that, although my friends and I are loving dogs who would never hurt a fly, there are a few unsavory saps out there who would do much more than that.  Terrorizing their neighbors like only a demon dog could, they’ve caused the number of dog attacks to continue to climb year after year.  (Why don’t they just get some fun dog toys to play with instead?)  And what’s worse, according to an article I just read in the San Francisco Chronicle, their owners are much to blame.  Not just a problem in the states, London’s Home Office Secretary Alan Johnson said there was “no doubt that some people breed and keep dogs for the sole purpose of intimidating others.  In a country where guns are tightly controlled and even carrying a kitchen knife can bring prison time, some thugs use dogs to menace their victims.”  Shame on you for giving us a bad name!!

If it were only just a few bad apples…

I guess it would be different if there were only a few cases.  But, there are reportedly 8 million dogs is Britain (yep, 8 million–that’s almost two times the human population of Atlanta where I live.)  With what probably seems like a dog on every corner, the sheer volume alone would increase the chances of getting attacked.

With hospital admissions and court cases involving dangerous dogs on the rise, incidents went from 35 in 2002-2003 to 719 in 2008-2009, according to the Metropolitan Police.  The number of dog-fighting complaints has also soared tenfold since 2004 with 284 reported cases in 2008.  Egad!!

Help is on the way!

What are our four-footed friends and their parents across the pond thinking?!  I’m not sure, but I’m glad that there’s proposed legislation to curtail this behavior and hold the owners responsible.  If it passes, micro chips and pet insurance would be mandatory.  At least this way, authorities could easily identify the owners of vicious dogs, and the insurance would ensure that victims got necessary treatment and compensation for their injuries.

The new legislation was proposed, and postal workers reportedly rejoiced–apparently they’re the butt of a lot of attacks in Britain, with approximately 6,000 incidents last year alone.

However, some don’t feel that it’s the right approach and would essentially create a “dog tax” because of the increased expense of insurance, which dangerous dog breeders could easily avoid getting.  According to Ryan O’Meara, chief editor of K9 Magazine, “There is nothing in this that is preventative.  If you put a chip in a dangerous dog, the bite will hurt you just as much.”  So true, Ryan, so true…