Chamber and committees

Scottish Government submission of 2 December 2021

PE1892/D - Introduce a law that makes attacks by one dog on another dog a crime

Our letter of 16 September confirmed the Scottish Government has committed to reviewing the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. This review will be progressed through this session of Parliament.

The Committee asks about consideration to be given to extending the dangerously out of control offence to cover attacks on non-assistance dogs. The Scottish Government letter of 16 September explained the current operation of the law as follows:

‘… The Committee will wish to be aware it is a criminal offence, under section 3 of the 1991 Act, for a dog to be dangerously out of control. A dog is deemed to be dangerously out of control if there is reasonable apprehension that it will injure a person or an assistance dog (i.e. a dog which has been trained to provide assistance to a deaf or blind person or certain other specified categories of person with a disability), whether or not an injury is caused. Therefore, an offence under section 3 of the 1991 Act can be committed where it has attacked another dog where that dog is an assistance dog.

Each case arising under the section 3 offence will always be considered on the exact facts and circumstances. Depending on the exact facts and circumstances, a dog could be classed as being dangerously out of control where a dog attacks another dog if the test for the offence is met including the need for reasonable apprehension as part of the operation of the offence. It would ultimately be for the court to determine in any given case whether an offence is committed.

For an aggravated offence (which is where a person is injured or killed through a dog being dangerously out of control or the attack is on an assistance dog), a person found guilty may face imprisonment of up to 2 years and/or an unlimited fine. A non-aggravated offence may result in a custodial sentence of up to 6 months and a fine of up to £5000. In addition to these penalties for aggravated and non-aggravated offences, the court may also disqualify the offender from having custody of a dog for any period as it thinks fit.’

The specific addition to the criminal law of ‘assistance dog’ was undertaken through legislation in 2014 by the UK Government. The rationale for that amendment to the 1991 Act was that if an assistance dog is attacked, the assisted person may suffer a significant reduction in freedom through either temporary loss of a dog whilst it recovers or permanent retirement and the resultant wait for a replacement dog. Reforms were therefore undertaken to make an attack on an assistance dog an aggravated offence.

In taking forward the Programme for Government commitment to review the operation of the 1991 Act, consideration will be given to the conduct captured by the existing dangerously out of control offence and whether it should be adjusted.

As noted in our letter of 16 September and copied above for ease of reference, the criminal law in this area may already capture an attack by a dog on another dog in certain circumstances. There are a range of considerations in assessing whether such a change should be proposed as such a change would adjust the focus of the existing law away from protecting people directly. This will all be considered as work to review the 1991 Act is progressed including through a Scottish Government led Working Group to be established in the coming months.

I hope that this information is helpful to the committee.