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Belfast City Council tackles dangerous dogs problem

Wed, 07 Feb 2007

Another council is clamping down on dangerous dogs after the issue was recently highlighted after innocent people were attacked.

This has in turn led to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 being revised to include four dangerous dog’s species to be banned. This will name pit bull terriers as one of the breeds to be banned.

Belfast City Council has received 128 complaints regarding alleged pit bulls attacks since last May.

This is first time in the UK, where owners of pit bulls and other dangerous dogs have been given a month time to hand the animals in to the council without the fear of prosecution.

In January, 18 out of 49 known illegal dogs were handed over to Belfast Council, and prosecutions are pending for seven dogs. Moreover, fifteen pit bulls were put down during a dog amnesty in Ballymena.

Chief executive Maurice Watterson said that the 15 dogs confirmed as illegal were humanely destroyed.

The council’s dog warden manager Nigel Cardwell said, "In partnership with the USPCA, we have developed a procedure which we believe deals with the problem of dangerous dogs in an effective and practical way.

"The USPCA works with our dog warden service on the identification issue and we will pursue a warrant to have a dog surrendered if we believe that dog is an illegal breed, and if the owner is unwilling to hand it over."

Mr Cardwell said that it is necessary to tackle the issue of dangerous dogs, as it has become a great concern for society and the general public.
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