Dog owners could face harsher penalties as new livestock worrying legislation proposed

Neil Parish, chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, said: “Most dog owners are responsible and we want to encourage dog walking, but actually the report shows most attacks are caused by unaccompanied dogs.

“The group feels more needs to be done to educate owners of the risks of dog attacks, we need better recording by police forces and better advice needs to be available for farmers to use preventative tools and take low cost litigation against irresponsible dog owners who are costing their industry.”

The inquiry leading up to the publication of yesterday’s report (November 16) heard farmers were often reluctant to report incidents to police for fear they would not be taken seriously.

However, with so many attacks going unreported, it was difficult to form an accurate picture of the problem, leading to some forces’ lack of prioritisation of the issue, the inquiry heard.

While some forces such as North Wales had made tremendous efforts to clamp down on dog attacks and seen encouraging results including some prosecutions, other UK forces found the law, and their power under it, difficult to interpret.

"There is a need to ensure accurate data is collected on this issue so that decision makers and enforcement bodies can fully understand this issue and prioritise resources," the report said.

"With clear evidence of significant under reporting, APGAW believes that farmers and livestock owners must report all incidents of livestock worrying, no matter how minor, to their local police so that effective data can be collated."

MPs called on the Home Office to make livestock worrying a recordable crime to ensure more accurate records across the country and for the definition of ‘livestock’ to be updated to include camelids and equines.

They also highlighted the SheepWatch UK leaflet which showed farmers exactly what to do in the event of an attack and how to record it.

The APGAW report called for more to be done to ensure dog owners recognise the risk their dog may pose to other animals so they can take measures to prevent incidents such as ensuring dogs cannot escape from the home, using the lead where needed, looking out for signs warning of grazing livestock and attending training classes.

Some of the other significant recommendations were:

• Farmers and local authorities can take measures to help prevent worrying and attacks. The information around the need to report, how to utilise preventative tools and how to set out clear messaging needs to be delivered consistently to farmers and given authority by farming and landowner organisations.
• Farmers should report all attacks and worrying to the police.
• Dog organisations should produce consistent information for dog owners which can be disseminated through veterinary practices and farming organisations.
• The Home Office should recognise that livestock worrying is a national social and economic issue which requires accurate statistics to be collected and guidance to be provided to police and should look to make livestock worrying a recordable crime to ensure more accurate records.
• Defra should support specific updates to relevant legislation where this is found to be required such as a better definition of ‘livestock’
• The Ministry of Justice should review the sentencing under the Dogs (Prevention of Livestock) Act 1953
• All organisations and institutions should look at commissioning research on the root causes of poor dog behaviour.