Dangerous Dogs.

Good afternoon.

It is an overcast day, and no sign of the sun appearing, so I am not doing any boat painting today. It is gonna be a day of doing very little I reckon. I do not have many days like that, as I like to keep busy. So not having much to do, I thought I would comment on the big story from yesterday's news. This was the news that dog owners may have to microchip their dogs and take out third-party insurance, in case their pooch should bit another dog or person. The legislation is supposed to weed out all dangerous dogs duhhhhhhh. Does the government really think that those people with dangerous dogs, are going to take their dogs to the vets to get them microchipped. Some of these people do not even have their cars insured, so why would they bother to get their dogs insured. I see this as another way to penalise good dog owners. It seems to me that law abiding people are always the ones to get penalised. we end up footing the bill for those who think it is their right to do as they like. We have a dog as you know and he is microchipped. The rescue centre did it before he left them.
With us living on a boat, we get to see all sorts of dogs on a daily basis. It has to be said that it is not just the dogs on the dangerous dogs list that are actually dangerous. Any dog can be dangerous. All dogs have the ability to bit in the right circumstances, even our daft looking collie.
There is a saying that there is no bad dog, just bad owners and I believe this is partly true. We know that some breeds of dogs are known to be incredibly dangerous. But on a regular basis we see ordinary dogs which get nasty when passing our boat. I have even walked past other people boats and felt that I am walking the gauntlet, because they allow their dogs to jump off their boat at people and other dogs. Our dog was a nervous wreck a few days after we got him, because the owner of a 7 month old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, allowed their dog off the lead to jump on our collie and push him to the ground. Our collie could not move and was getting distressed and yet the dogs owners thought it was funny. I however did not and was very annoyed at their behaviour. They did eventually put their dog on the lead, after I shouted at them. But our collie has not forgotten that incident and when he sees a Staffie of the same colouring, he hides behind me.
"The vast majority of dog owners are responsible, but there is no doubt that some people breed and keep dogs for the sole purpose of intimidating others, in a sense using dogs as a weapon."
Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 prohibits four types of dog:


1. Pit Bull Terrier

2. Japanese Tosa

3. Dogo Argentino

4. Fila Brasileiro

I bet we could add other dogs to this list, but those are the 4 which are said to be the worst.
Surely the need is to take these dogs off of the streets and I cannot see the new legislation doing this, can you???