Well, it looks as though the drugs are wearing off in the UK - at long last.

In the news today:

Bid to overhaul dog laws launched

 

 

Steps are being taken to tighten up the law surrounding dangerous dogs.

A Bill is being tabled in the House of Lords that would make attacks on private property an offence and outlaw breeding or keeping dogs for fighting.

Dangerous dogs have been controlled by legislation since the 1870s but the latest act rushed through in 1991 after a spate of attacks has never been popular and campaigners have long been calling for change.

I hope this Bill passes because as we all know, any laws which are directed at dogs rather than owners are destined to fail.  The UK's infamous DDA, passed in 1991, is the gold standard for those researching the failure of breed-specific legislation.

It is such an awful law that universities in England use it as an example of poorly drafted legislation.

Not only has it cost a fortune, dog bites in most cities and towns in the UK have increased dramatically since enactment.

This bit is hopefully just bad interpretation by media:

Breeding dogs for fighting or keeping a dog that has fought before will be an offence.

Since you can't 'breed' dogs to fight - you can only train them or sell them for it, this needs revision.  This type of wording is too vague and is just asking for subjective interpretation about what constitutes 'breeding' dogs to fight.

Also, obviously the second part means an automatic death sentence for any dogs removed from fighting busts.  I thought we'd advanced past that way of thinking - well, except in HSUS-land and Houston.

Overall though, it's about bloody time they used their heads since their precedent affected the rest of us.

Hey, McGuinty, the weather is changing for the dog-haters out there.  You could be the next one to get with the program.  Or maybe that pencil-necked, unelected civil servant in Denver would like to give it a try.