Dealing with anti-social behaviour with dogs

Wandsworth Council takes the issue of dog control very seriously.

It is one of only a handful of boroughs in the country with a dedicated dog control service - the biggest of its kind anywhere in the UK. The team - six full time and six part-time - patrol the borough’s streets, housing estates, parks and open spaces, tackling dangerous and nuisance dogs, dealing with strays and enforcing by-laws on dog fouling, cruelty and neglect for 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. It has successfully prosecuted more than 800 people for breaching dog regulations and dealt with more than 6,000 stray or dangerous dogs.

The Council has introduced compulsory dog-chipping on its estates, and is working to prevent the anti-social behaviour of some young dog owners who see certain breeds of ‘street dogs’ as status symbols.

Wandsworth Council achieved two gold awards in the RSPCA’s Community Animal Welfare Footprints schemes for 2008 and 2009. In January 2009 the council was chosen as the overall winner of the Kennel Club’s Good Citizen Dog Scheme Awards for the breadth of its work to promote responsible dog ownership during 2008.

Street dogs

Following an incident in West Putney in October 2007, when two Pit Bull type dogs attacked and killed a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, local people expressed concern over the increase in anti-social behaviour linked to dog ownership. Residents of a local estate petitioned the council, stating that many people were too frightened to walk their dogs and demanding that the Council and the Police acted to remedy the situation.

Information from the Council’s dog control service suggested that dog fighting across the borough was relatively scarce and not increasing. However, there was a growing problem with the ownership of what are perceived to be fighting dogs, particularly amongst young people, and there had been an increase in anti-social behaviour involving these dogs.

The RSPCA and other animal welfare charities were also concerned about the growing number of ‘street’ dogs being acquired by young Londoners as fashion accessories. The popularity of certain tough-looking breeds, such as Staffordshire bull terriers, Rottweilers, bull mastiffs and other bull breeds, has led to a surge in the numbers being bred and later abandoned when they are no longer wanted or homes cannot be found.

So the Council joined forces with the Police, Greater London Authority, RSPCA, Blue Cross and the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in a bid to eradicate the anti-social behaviour of some young dog owners.

People with Dogs campaign

In February 2008 the agencies launched the ‘People with Dogs’ campaign with a hard-hitting film to be shown in schools and youth clubs across London. It is targeted specifically at young people and fronted by popular Brixton MC Wordsmith, a keen dog lover.

The film tells the story of a young man who gets a dog, thinking it’s a status symbol and then mistreats it. A learning pack comes with the film that can be used to spark debate among young people to try and challenge their perceptions about dog ownership. It educational pack includes a workshop that explores the topics raised in the film, such as irresponsible dog breeding, inappropriate exercise areas and organised dog fighting.

The film includes contributions from Robert Alleyne, dog behaviourist from BBC3’s Dog Borstal, and a moving interview with Wandsworth resident Mike Ebberson. Mike was seriously injured while trying to save his own dog from being attacked, and eventually killed, by aggressive dogs left off the lead in a London park.

Senior dog control officer Mark Callis said: “What we are trying to achieve is a reduction in anti-social behaviour and if we can educate young people about the duties and responsibilities that come with owning a dog, then we believe we can make our streets, parks and housing estates safer places.”

The film and education pack were distributed to every London Borough for use in schools, youth clubs and community groups. Unfortunately a follow-up early in 2009 showed that the material had not generally reached the appropriate front-line practitioners. So a series of facilitator workshops are planned for the spring of 2009, at which practitioners will be trained to deliver the workshops in the community. Each practitioner attending the training will receive their own copy of the DVD.

Dog Control Action Pack

The People with Dogs campaign is just one strand of Wandsworth’s approach to dealing with anti-social behaviour involving dogs. In May 2007 the dog control service produced a toolkit to guide council staff trying to tackle the problem. It emphasises the need for a partnership approach to the problem and clearly sets out the role of the different council departments and other agencies.

There is a variety of powers open to the Council:

Enforcement action

• Dog-related bye-laws apply in some areas of Wandsworth, including most grassed and communal areas on housing estates, allowing action to be taken against dog owners taking their dog into areas where dogs are banned, such as play areas.

• If it can be proved that a dog is not under proper control, or that the owner uses his or her dog in an intimidating or threatening manner, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts or Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) are considered if there is a pattern of similar behaviour. The Council has issued 2 ASBOs which include a dangerous dog element.

• Action can be taken under the Environmental Protection Act to deal with noise from barking dogs on premises by serving a statutory notice on the owner or person in control of the dog. They are liable to a fine for failure to comply with the notice. However, before serving notice, the dog control service aims to advise the owner on dog control.

• Dog Control Orders (DCOs) were introduced by the Clean Neighbourhood Act 2005. Whilst the orders themselves do not deal specifically with dangerous dogs, they can be used to place greater restrictions on where dogs may or may not be taken and also the level of control an individual must have over their dog. For example, on all public highways and footpaths an order can be made to require all dogs to be on a lead or to be put on a lead at the instruction of an authorised officer. A fixed penalty is available for contravening a dog control order. The Council will implement its first DCOs in the summer of 2009 after completing statutory consultation.

• The Metropolitan Police Act 1839 provides that it is an offence: “in any thoroughfare or public place…to suffer to be at large any unmuzzled ferocious dog, or set on or urge any dog or other animal to attack, worry or put in fear any person, horse or other animal”. The maximum penalty for this offence is a £500 fine.
  
  In 2008 the Council delegated authority to appropriate officers to bring proceedings under the Act in suitable cases. It has not yet been necessary to use this legislation.

Compulsory micro-chipping

In June 2008 the Council decided to strengthen Wandsworth’s conditions of tenancy and leasehold regulations, which already contained strong clauses addressing sources of nuisance from dogs and other animals.

There had been two serious attacks in the west of the borough resulting in criminal prosecutions where the dog owners were council tenants or living in a council-tenanted property. Groups of youths were seen training fighting dogs on one estate and these incidents contributed to the need for further action to meet public disquiet over dangerous dogs.

New tenancy condition

The Council resolved to require tenants and leaseholders wanting to keep a dog to have it micro-chipped as a condition of tenancy or under regulations applying to leaseholders.

Micro-chipping is a quick way of permanently identifying a dog. The chip, which is the size of a grain of rice, is painlessly inserted under the animal’s skin. Once in, the microchip cannot move or be seen, but can be read by the scanner. Each microchip has a unique code number. Wandsworth records the owner’s details and the microchip code on its own database to help with fast investigation and resolution of incidents.

For example, if a black labrador had been involved in an incident on an estate, officers would interrogate the database for details of all black labrador owners and then refine the search to those in the locality or those matching other specific criteria. If the dog was not registered, then the search would eliminate all registered owners.

The database also helps the Council to contact and return dogs to responsible owners quickly should they stray.

Tenants were consulted on the new sub-clause in their tenancy agreement:
“You must not keep a dog at the property without first obtaining our written permission, which will not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or withdrawn. If permission is given, it will be on condition that the dog is micro-chipped and relevant owner details recorded and kept up to date”.

The proposals were generally well received, including by resident representatives serving on the Borough Residents’ Forum and the Area Housing Panels.

Varying the lease

Wandsworth’s standard lease gives the Council power, in the interests of good estate management, to impose additional general restrictions and regulations of general application. To ensure that similar conditions applied throughout its estates, the Council served notice on all leaseholders advising them of the introduction of a new regulation, echoing the wording in the tenancy agreement.

Introducing the changes

The new rules came into effect from the 5 January 2009 for new tenants and leaseholders. Existing tenants and leaseholders were allowed until June 2009 to get their pet chipped before enforcement action is taken.

Wandsworth estimates that 4,000 dogs live on the borough’s estates, and that around 30-40 new tenants each year have dogs. It is offering a free micro-chipping service:

• to encourage as many tenants as possible to comply with the new requirements; and

• to ensure that the new tenancy condition meets the requirements of the Unfair Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

About 300 tenants responded to initial publicity in late 2008 and brought their dogs in for micro-chipping.

A temporary full-time equivalent dog micro-chipping officer, working within the dog control service, was been funded for 12 months from the Housing Revenue Account to meet the extra workload, at a cost of £32,000. A large supply of microchips was purchased at a cost of £2 each.

A series of 27 roadshows took place through the first half of 2009 to explain the new rules and encourage residents of council estates to have their dogs micro-chipped, either at the roadshow or, by appointment, at the dog control service’s office. Home visits were made to those residents who have mobility problems and, where necessary, to assess conditions in which dogs are being kept.

Local housing associations have been asked to encourage their residents to have their own pets micro-chipped and registered. The charge to people who are not Wandsworth tenants or leaseholders is £10.