Dog Law - Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Section Three-Information & Advice

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Dangerous Dogs Act - Section Three:

Section Three of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (DDA) can be applied to any dog of any breed or type, regardless of the dog’s size, in England & Wales.

In Scotland legislation was passed in 2010 and extends section three of the Dangerous Dogs Act to cover any place. Information here.

Many dog owners have heard of the law but wrongly believe it is something to do with ‘pit bulls’ only, whereas section three refers to the keeping of all dogs under proper control and creates the following criminal offences:

Firstly it is a criminal offence for a dog to be "dangerously out of control in a public place". The offence is more serious if injury to any person is caused by the dog whilst out of control; this is known as an aggravated offence.1

Both the dog’s owner and the person in charge of the dog at the time (if different) are liable.
It may be a defence for the dog’s owner if he/she can prove that the dog was in the charge of a person reasonably believed to be fit and proper at the time.2

Secondly it is a criminal offence to allow a dog to enter a non-public place where it’s not permitted to be and whilst it is there, it injures any person or there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will do.3

This section applies to the owner or, if different, the person who was in charge of the dog at the time.

If the dog is owned/under the control of someone under the age of 16yrs, the head of the household is deemed responsible.4

It you are being prosecuted under sec 3 of the Act it is important that you obtain professional legal advice immediately.

The definition given in the Act is that a dog shall be regarded as dangerously out of control on any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person, whether or not it actually does so 6 – an aggravated offence (more serious) will have been committed if the dog, whilst out of control, injures a person. (See exclusions-reference 5 below.)

An injury doesn’t have to be in the form of a dog bite, it could, for example, be from a dog enthusiastically greeting someone and knocking them over, or jumping up and scratching a person’s leg, injury to a person is classed as an aggravated offence.

Dog on dog attacks/fights, injury to a cat, injury to another dog are not covered under this legislation unless a person is injured or there are reasonable grounds for apprehension that the dog will injure a person.

The definition of a public place is defined as any street, road or other place (whether or not enclosed) to which the public have or are permitted to have access whether for payment or otherwise and includes the common parts of a building containing two or more separate dwellings.7

In the case of Fellowes v DPP 1993, the prosecution submitted that the garden path leading to the front door was a public place because any member of the public could use it. The Court held that the garden path leading to the front door is not a public place within Section 10 of the Act.

A separate ruling by Justice Waller and Lord Justice Rose made on February 25th 1992 held that the interior of a vehicle when on a public highway is, for the purposes of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, a public place (see the case of ‘Otis’, Great Dane crossbreed).

Inside your home is not a public place in England & Wales for the purposes of this law, as your dog is permitted to be there and it’s a private place. In Scotland new legislation has extended the law to apply to all places for example including inside your home and garden.8

A constable or an authorised officer of a local authority may seize any dog in a public place which appears to him to be dangerously out of control at the time.9

A magistrate’s warrant may be issued authorising a constable to enter (using force as is reasonably necessary) premises to search and seize any dog (or other thing found) which is evidence of an offence under this Act.10

There is no provision for ‘bail’ of the dog whilst awaiting a legal outcome. In some cases the Police will exercise their powers and seize a dog, in other cases the dog will remain at home pending a legal hearing.

If there was injury to a person, there is no time limit; it is not unusual for us to be contacted by a dog’s owner who has received a court summons in reference to an alleged incident over six months previously.

If there was no injury to a person, then proceedings must be laid at the Court within 6 months.

Aggravated Offences: An aggravated offence is committed if injury has been caused to any person. Injury to another animal, including another dog or a cat is not classed as an aggravated offence. The most common type of aggravated offence we encounter is in cases where two dogs have has a disagreement in an open space and a dog owner has been bitten by mistake, usually on the hand, in the heat of the moment whilst separating the two dogs.

Aggravated offences can be heard before the Magistrates’ Court or brought before the Crown Court and taken before a jury.

If found guilty on summary conviction (Magistrates Court) the maximum penalty is a fine up to £5,000 and/or imprisonment up to six months.

On conviction on indictment (Crown Court) a fine up to £20,000 and/or two years imprisonment is possible.

The court can disqualify the offender from having custody of a dog for such a period as the court thinks fit.11 A disqualified person may one year later apply to the court for their disqualification order to be ended.12

Non-Aggravated Offences: If no injury to a person has been caused, the case is heard before the Magistrates court, the maximum sentence is six months imprisonment and/or a fine up to £5,000

Prior to the 1997 Amendment of the Act, the penalty for an ‘aggravated’ offence was (but is no longer) mandatory destruction of the dog.

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 was amended in 1997, giving Courts discretionary powers when sentencing, on conviction under section three the court may order that unless the owner keeps the dog under proper control, the dog shall be destroyed.13

If injury has been caused to a person, there is a presumption in favour of destruction – unless the owner can prove that the dog would not constitute a danger to public safety in which case the court if satisfied may order a contingent destruction order.

Contingent Destruction Orders: The alternative to a destruction order would be a Contingent Destruction Order – the dog shall be destroyed unless the owner keeps it under proper control, the Court can attach conditions to such an order and may specify the measures to be taken to keep a dog under proper control, these could include:14

Past Home Office Circulars have advised that practioners be satisfied that the circumstances of the offence, including the gravity of the injuries caused, are so serious that the public interest requires a prosecution under Section Three of the DDA, rather than under one of the earlier statues. Home Office Circular 9/1994 states:

"Prosecuting authorities will wish to consider whether proceedings under one of these earlier statues would be preferable to using the 1991 Act in cases of lesser severity."

An alternative to using section three of the DDA is the Dogs Act 1871 which covers all types of dogs in both public and private place. A complaint can be made to the magistrates’ court that a dog is dangerous, this is civil action as opposed to criminal.

The number of prosecutions for an aggravated offence in the two years ('95, '96) prior to the DDA Amendment of 1997 was 480, in the two years following ('98, '99) this had increased to 880, indicting that the removal of mandatory destruction may have caused a shift towards using the DDA as opposed to the Dogs Act 1871.

In 2008, 764 people were found guilty under section three of the DDA; 247 of those convicted received a fine and 21 received a prison sentence.15

The information contained here does not constitute legal advice in and of itself. You must contact a Solicitor for advice before acting upon anything that you read on this web site.

For help with finding a solicitor who has experience with canine legislation - please contact us.

Dangerous Dogs Act - Section Three:

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