Helen Martin: Use dog licences to give law teeth

WITH MPs living high on the hog at our expense, a crazily incompetent banking industry collapsing around our ears, crippling national debt and many people facing personal financial ruin, this is perhaps not the moment to suggest that the not-so-honourable members of Westminster introduce yet another "tax".

In fact, amidst the chaos of our times, it's difficult even to concentrate on mundane domestic matters, so understandably obsessed are we with the sheer nerve of politicians and their Hans Christian Andersen take on "necessary" expenses claims. But life goes on. Ordinary day-to-day issues may be concealed temporarily beneath the cloud cover, but they can't be ignored completely.

And for five-year-old Andrew Osborne and his family in Dalkeith, there is nothing "ordinary" about the way we treat and control our pets. Since Andrew was mauled and scarred for life by a loose, unaccompanied dog, it's probably fair to say that, next to his recovery, responsible dog ownership is top of their agenda, way above duck ponds and job losses.

In two other high-profile cases over the past few years a one-year-old tot in Hamilton and a 12-year-old girl in Pilton were also mauled.

Attacking a human is about the worst a dog can do. But other canine crimes include roaming wild and causing accidents, attacking other dogs or simply defecating where they shouldn't.

Anger against dogs is, of course, futile and misplaced because we all know the animal is not to blame. The owner is. When we talk about "dangerous dogs", we actually mean dangerous, irresponsible owners.

And one "stealth tax" we surely need is the re-introduction of the dog licence.

Critics say it wouldn't achieve much and would cost too much to collect.

I disagree. If every pet shop, breeder and animal rescue centre sold a meaningfully priced licence along with the dog, if it was made an offence to sell a dog without collecting the licence at the same time as well as micro-chipping the dog with the buyer's details, it would go some way to underlining the responsibility attached to ownership and make it easier to identify owners of "stray" dogs.

Owning a dog is simply too easy. A new licence could carry a legally binding code of obligations, everything from picking up poo to having vet insurance. And it wouldn't necessarily stop the less well-off having a pet. A means-tested waiver on the fee plus means-tested registration with the PDSA might suffice.

We have a dog, but the behaviour of some other owners appalls me. We live next to a cricket ground where we pay a small fee for dog-walking rights and a key. The privilege carries conditions, not least of which is picking up after the animal. Yet every day I see abandoned deposits left around the pitch letting the doggy side down.

A couple of weeks ago we took our dog with other members of the family and their pooch to another gated pitch near Peffermill. A small black terrier launched a vicious attack on ours for no reason and, despite our greyhound's lack of aggression, continued to go for him. The owner did nothing much. In fact, he told us we were the ones who shouldn't have a dog because we should know dogs fight. We tried to reason that if his dog was a fighter, it should be kept on a lead. I think the poor terrier got the message before his owner.

Another friend tells how after his dog was attacked, the bull terrier perpetrator turned on him. He delivered a quick kick to the dog's testicles, pointing out to the owner that if he hadn't and the dog had carried through with its bite, it risked being put down rather than having sore gonads for a couple of hours.

The interests of dogs and the interests of those who regard dogs as a threat or a nuisance would both be served by setting higher standards of ownership.

Admittedly, the sort of moron who ill-treats animals or trains their dog to fight isn't likely to obey the rules or pay up. But at least with licensing they would be on the wrong side of the law and subject to charges, whether or not – and hopefully before – their poor, mis-programmed mutt attacked someone and was put to death.

Dog attacks on humans have risen by 50 per cent in the past decade and 21 per cent of these attacks are on children. Around a third of dog owners are reported as saying that their dog has been attacked by another.

A trivial issue? Ask the Osbornes.

Party pooper
WITH democracy in Britain under the spotlight like never before, it's interesting to witness the furore over the possibility of Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, being allowed to attend the Queen's garden party at Buckingham Palace.

Griffin, who was named as a guest of London Assembly member Richard Barnbrook, has a conviction for inciting racial hatred so I can't say he'd be welcome in my garden. But his party has been legitimately elected in this country. Does anybody, including the Queen, have the right to ban him?