New legislation that will give police tougher powers to deal with loose dogs upsetting animals has been welcomed – while questions remain over its scope.
The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill had its final reading in the House of Lords on 5 December and has gone to The King for royal assent, which means it will become law.
The legislation is designed to give police greater powers to tackle livestock worrying. It will allow for stronger punishments, and the police will be able to investigate incidents of livestock worrying that happened before the bill was passed.
Police will be empowered to detain dogs suspected of worrying livestock where there is nobody present to accept responsibility for the dog, and they will also be allowed to take DNA samples or mouth impressions from dogs they suspect of worrying livestock.
“We recognise the positive steps being made with [this bill], but there are still vital elements that we feel need to be addressed,” British Horse Society safety team manager Des Payne told H&H.
“While we acknowledge that the bill gives police greater powers to protect horses and charge offenders, this only protects horses on agricultural or grazing land including ‘roads and paths’ for movement. We welcome any opportunity to discuss the bill with the Defra minister, so that this can include all public spaces and clarification that this does include whilst being ridden or driven.”
He added: “We are supportive of any legal process that furthers the protection of horses, but we will continue to campaign for stricter regulations for when dogs are around horses. Placing a dog on a lead for a couple of minutes is a small price to pay to keep everyone safe and, potentially, save lives.”
Days after the bill had its final reading, Charlotte Mitchell’s 20-year-old mare MJ was chased by a dog out of her field over a metal five-bar gate and onto a road.
“This situation shows that this bill is needed more than ever,” said Charlotte.
Equestrian safety campaigner Victoria Privett co-runs Leash & Release, an education and awareness campaign on preventing and managing dog-related incidents involving horses.
She said the bill is “a positive step in the right direction”, but there are some important questions that need answering – which she has put to Defra.
These include whether horses are protected while being ridden, and if this also applies to common land, forests and beaches.
“There has also been an update to the public spaces element, which will now include roads and pathways. However, we do not know if there will be a technicality around the purpose of using those pathways with livestock,” she said.
H&H has also contacted Defra to ask for clarification on whether the legislation will apply to situations where horses are being ridden, to ask if there are any limitations as to what is meant by “paths” and if so, what those exclusions would be.
World Horse Welfare’s head of public affairs Kim Ayling told H&H that the charity welcomes any legislation that better protects horses, and this should go some way to reducing the number of dog worrying attacks on all animals.
“Currently, anyone out with their horse, either walking in hand or riding would have no legal protection if their horse were to be attacked by a dog. The new legislation will change this, recognising that incidents can happen not just in fields, but on roads and paths. We hope that the harsher punishments enabled by this bill will act as a greater deterrent to dog owners and encourage them to take worrying seriously,” she said.
“Increased powers for police, including being able to take advantage of advances in technology, such as DNA testing, will also make it easier to identify the culprit and hold their owner to account. With the Kept Animals Bill, which would have introduced similar protections, having fallen previously, this legislation is long-awaited and we’re pleased to see this bill pushed through so quickly.”
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