Blooming Personalities C/D 30Th November
Quizzes & Puzzles0 min ago
I cannot find a relevant section for this query. I was walking with my 2 very small dogs along a private lane, which is a public right of way, and leads to a number of fields The lane has one or two houses on each side.
As I proceeded down the lane two large dogs from one of the houses, and known to me, ran silently up behind me, and attacked my dogs with total surprise. In this instance it was not serious except that it frightened me. As this occurred on a private road would the law support me if I complained and can I expect the offending owners to take any action ?? Would I have any redress.
No best answer has yet been selected by Magic 1. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Dogs attacking other dogs is illegal only for the owner and not the dog.
The offence is not keeping proper control of a dog.
Usually if a dog is out of control and bites a human more than twice, the police can apply to the courts to have the dog destroyed, however if a dog attacks another dog, cat or domestic rabbit, it connot be destroyed as it is deemed in law to acting "naturally" that is following its natural instincts.
This is not written in the Dangerous Dogs Act but has come about through stated cases. These are past cases where judges have ruled on points of law, after which their findings must be followed by other courts and judges.
The dangerous dogs act reads;
If a dog is dangerously out of control in a public place the owner; or (if different) the person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of an offence.
My understanding of the law is that a public place is any place open to the public, so despite it being being a private lane as far as traffic is concerned it would still be deemed as a public place.