CWU welcomes tougher sentencing guidelines on dangerous dogs
20th August 2012
The Communication Workers Union today (Monday) welcomes the
publication of guidance on sentencing the owners of dangerous dogs,
but says that a change in the law is needed to get the full
benefit.
Dave Joyce, CWU health, safety and
environment officer, said: "We warmly welcome today's
publication of sentencing guidelines on dangerous dogs.
"There wasn't - and never has been - any guidance on
sentencing for dangerous dog related crime. We've pointed this
out in our Bite Back
campaign because the lack of guidance was leading to
inconsistent and inadequate sentences.
"We still need a change in the law to get the full benefit
of this change in sentencing as this will only apply to successful
prosecutions, of which there are still far too few in relation to
the number of dog attacks.
"Thousands of innocent people - including young children
and postal workers - are being attacked by dogs every year. The
change in sentencing is welcome but much more needs to be done to
prevent attacks from happening in the first place and to encourage
more responsible dog ownership."
CWU is the biggest union in the communications sector with over 204,000 members in post, telecoms, support and financial services. The union launched its Bite Back campaign in 2008 to raise awareness and secure changes on dangerous dogs issues.
