Dog Law - Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (as amended) Information

News May 2009:

Registered Dogs Decrease :

Between 2000 and 2006 only 39 prohibited* dogs were added to the Index of Exempted Dogs (IED) * via court order having completed the legal requirements within a time specified by the court. Once exempted, a dog is 'legally owned' providing the requirements as laid down in the Dangerous Dogs Act are adhered to.

In the following year, 2007, the number of dogs added to the IED had sharply increased to 185 due to increased enforcement of the law.

During 2008, the number of dogs added to the IED again increased as the year saw 331 dogs added.

In repy to a freedom of information request this year, Defra confirmed that over the past three years (not including the 2009 figures) a total of 522 dogs have been exempted and thus are legally owned. But, only 456 remained on the register in 2008 which is a decrease of 66 dogs.

A question which arises is; why are sixty six dogs exempted dogs;

• who have been through the law courts in the past three years, considered of no danger to the public and ordered by a court to be exempted

• proceeded through the registration process successfully and

• issued with exemption certificates and thus legally owned

no longer registered on the Index?

Defra have issued guidelines in April 2009 advising 'better' enforcement of the law, the number of dogs expected to be ordered exempted by the courts is expected to rise again this year, indeed another 120 dogs had been added to the Index by the end of April 2009.

Once a dog is exempted under the legislation some owners can encounter problems, for example, there is no health insurance available (known to us) for registered dogs. Dogs also have to cope with being muzzled and on leash at all times in public places and some dogs returned from kennels having been seized suffer from a wide range of issues both physical and mental which can leave a pet owner struggling to cope.

If you are the owner of an exempted dog and are experiencing any problems, help is at hand, EDDR has cared for a number of dogs registered and exempted under the legislation, we therefore can advise from experience.

Please read through our ‘Registered and Exempted Dogs’ article and contact us if you have any questions, need any help or just someone to talk to.

* The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (as amended) prohibits four specific breeds or ‘types’ of dog, these specially controlled dogs, in practice mainly pit bull terrier types, can only be legally owned if they are registered on the Index of Exempted Dogs (IED) and a ‘certificate of exemption’ has been issued to the dog’s owner. Owners must then abide fully with the conditions laid down by the law in order for their certificate of exemption to remain valid and their dog to stay within the law. 

** Prior to the legislation being amended in 1997, dogs guilty of being a type of dog known as a pit bull terrier were automatically ordered to be destroyed by the courts. A court could not issue any other sentence, regardless of how friendly and much loved the dog was, the court had no discretion. When the law was amended in 1997, it enabled a court to order a dog registered onto the IED as an alternative to destruction, if it was shown that the dog did not represent a danger to public safety.

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