MSP TAKES FORWARD DANGEROUS DOGS BILL.

MSP TAKES FORWARD DANGEROUS DOGS BILL. South of Scotland SNP MSP Christine Grahame has taken over the duty of steering through the Scottish Parliament a Members’ Bill entitled Control of Dogs (Scotland) Bill. Ms Grahame has adopted this bill which was originally sponsored by Alex Neil MSP, who was recently promoted to a position within the Scottish Government and is therefore now unable to sponsor a Members’ Bill. Commenting Christine Grahame said: “I was a supporter of the bill from the start and was delighted to get the opportunity to ensure its continued passage through Parliament. “I am first of all thankful to Alex Neil for his foresight and public spirit and the vital work he has done so far. “This Bill is to put in place preventative measures that can be used against owners who consistently fail to control their dogs. It is essentially about bad owners rather than bad dogs. It is about the deed not the breed. "Responsible dog owners will welcome the power this gives courts to crack down on irresponsible owners, who allow their dogs to wreak havoc and endanger the safety of both humans and other dogs. "Alex consulted extensively with a range of animal welfare organisations, dog experts and indeed dog owners, and the vast majority believed that this bill will strike the right balance between improving public safety and targeting only the irresponsible minority. “There are situations up and down the country where people use dogs as weapons, breed and train them to be aggressive and there is no legislation to protect people or other animals from them. “Rather than waiting for someone to get hurt this will allow the police and local authorities to proactively prevent such behaviour.” “This Bill seeks to add to the legislation we have in place at the moment to protect dog owners, innocent members of the public and other animals.”