Are dangerous dogs the victims?
Kendal Shephard
"If we don't consider a dog's emotions, motivations and behaviour…we can legislate until we're blue in the face but we will not prevent dog bites," said veterinary behaviourist Kendal Shepherd.
Speaking at the BVA Congress today (November 21), she said more must be done to examine and record the factors surrounding dog bites.
"We need to treat the dog bite itself as the pathogen…the dog is just the transmitter of the pathogen," she argued.
Currently, she said, investigations are carried out in order to lay blame, with a reliance on crime and punishment, but dog bite incidents should be considered an extreme public health concern, not a crime. She called for a move away from the emphasis on punishing the owner, to refocus on investigating incidents in a thorough and non-judgemental way.
In these investigations, the behaviour of both the dog and the victim must also be taken into consideration as "they are part of the context that made the bite happen and we cannot avoid that".
Under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, a dog can be considered dangerous if it causes fear of injury, even if it does not bite anyone. She raised the concern that a person's response to incidents is key - as the same behaviour may be very frightening for one person, and not at all for another.
Police sergeant Peter Madden explained what it's like to enforce dangerous dog laws. He said: "We are not looking to criminalise owners…where there is an issue, we deal with that issue". This often involves a control order - commonly mandating that the dog be kept muzzled and on a lead in public, or simply that the dog be put in another room when the postman knocks at the door.
Dogs seized by the police come from a variety of places, including very good homes and often incidents are a one off.
Part of the source of dog aggression may be a persistence of the "dominance myth". Far too often, Ms Shepherd said she sees owners and even trainers and vets who say a dog is displaying dominant behaviour, yet more often than not, aggression is an expression of fear and anxiety, not dominance. Ms Shepherd warns that dominance training will result in aggression.
Cultural factors were also highlighted as being part of a shift in attitudes towards dogs. Often Asian children are raised to fear dogs, Ms Shepherd said, an issue she feels "we tend to pussy foot around due to political correctness".
"Education must cut across the cultural issue," she said. " It's shifted the evolutionary goalposts too far for dogs to keep up…we have to address this issue. The dog is adapted to go and say hello to people, it is not adapted to have people scream and run away from it".
Two independent vets have launched a podcast to help owners strengthen their bond with pets. Dr Maggie Roberts and Dr Vanessa Howie, who have worked in both veterinary practice and major charities, are keen to use their experience to enable people to give pets a better life.
