LTB 176/19 – Cardiff City Hall Dog Control Conference – CWU Calls for Clamp Down on Bad Dog Owners Well Received. National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce delivers ‘key-note Speech.
No. 176/2019
20 March 2019
Our Ref: P18/19
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
Cardiff City Hall Dog Control Conference – CWU Calls for Clamp Down on Bad Dog Owners Well Received. National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce delivers ‘key-note Speech.
See below reproduced report written on the above event.
Dog attacks on postal delivery workers and irresponsible owners were discussed at Cardiff’s major conference on dog ownership on 6th March.
The event had a high profile list of speakers led by the Union’s National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce who was invited by the organisers Cardiff City & County Council to deliver the ‘key-note’ address. Other speakers were; Lesley Griffiths AM – Wales Government Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Councillor Huw Thomas, Leader of Cardiff Council and Penny Bowers of Cardiff Dog Action.
Politicians, animal experts, dog owners, victims of dog attacks, postal workers, CWU Reps and members of the public gathered in a packed City Hall for the event to hear evidence and suggestions geared towards making dog owners more responsible and holding to account those that flout the dog control laws and allow their animals to bite postal workers, children and members of the public.
What did the CWU Say?
Dave Joyce, National Health and Safety Officer for the Communications Workers Union (CWU) spoke on the danger of dogs to postal workers – particularly over Christmas and the school holidays when attacks peak – and the urgent need to toughen up dog control in Wales.
Dave said “One in seven of Wales’s 4,730 postal workers have been bitten and injured in the last 5 years with 850 casualties.”
“Some of these injured postal workers never fully recover physically and mentally from dog attack trauma and are not able to continue working in the industry due to their disabilities and disfigurement and mental anguish.”
The 200,000 strong CWU has launched its Bite-Back Campaign and is pressing the UK government to amend the Dangerous Dogs Act further but Dave Joyce added that Wales as a devolved administration can take the lead and the CWU are calling on the Welsh Assembly to:
- Re-introduce Dog Licensing to generate ring-fenced funds for enforcement.
- Introduce Dog Control Notices (DCN’s).
- Introduce on the spot Fixed Penalty Notices to deal with minor offences and breaches
- Enforce the Dog Tag Law of 1992 which requires all dogs to wear a collar and tag when in public with the owner’s details on it.
- Utilise Public Space Protection Orders to ban dogs from specific areas such as children’s play parks and other designated public areas.Dave Joyce added that “Currently 77% of councils have never issued a Community Protection Notice (CPN) – CPN’s have been a total ‘failure’.
What did the Welsh Government say?
Lesley Griffiths AM – Wales Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs said that she was aware of inconsistencies with dog law enforcement and that there is a lot more they can do. She said: “I am very pleased to support the campaign – being a dog lover, promoting responsible dog ownership is a subject very close to my heart. Irresponsible dog ownership has a devastating impact not only on the dog but on individuals, their families and our communities.” Lesley said she had met Dave Joyce on several occasions and committed to further discussions with the CWU on the issues they have been raising.
What did Cardiff the Council say?
Councillor Huw Thomas – Leader of Cardiff Council, the largest Local Authority in Wales said: “I agree that there is no such thing as a bad dog only bad owners” and he re-affirmed Cardiff’s commitment to responsible dog ownership, supporting the issues raised by Dave Joyce and CWU.
What Did the Cardiff Dog Action Group Say?
Penny Bowers from the Cardiff Dog Action Group spoke about tackling antisocial dog behaviour and said “The council needs to have that top-down approach in dealing with this and we want Cardiff to be a dog friendly city.”
Going Forward!
The group (Wales Government Minister Lesley Griffiths, Julie Morgan Wales Government AM, Councillor Huw Thomas Cardiff Council Leader, Councillor Dilwar Ali Cardiff Council Cabinet Member and Dave Joyce CWU National Health, Safety & Environment Member) are planning to meet again in the near future to co-ordinate an approach to tackle these issues.
See attached Photographs from the Event.
End of Report.
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer