Dangerous dog attacks have actually doubled in the West Midlands over the last couple of years, in the middle of growing worries about the danger positioned by specific types. New information, obtained following the sentencing of a dog owner over the dreadful death of a much-loved great-grandmother in the Black Country, demonstrated how attacks were increasing year on year in the area.
Last year, there were 1,111 occurrences tape-recorded in the West Midlands where a dog was “alarmingly out of control” and triggered injury or, sometimes, death – around 3 every day. That was more than double the 547 tape-recorded 6 years previously in 2016, with attacks slowly increasing every year.
And it comes in the middle of increasing issue about the danger positioned by possibly hazardous dogs following a variety of awful occurrences throughout the UK. On Tuesday (June 13), Darren Pritchard was imprisoned after his 2 American bulldogs entered neighbour’s Lucille Downer’s garden in Rowley Regis, trampling the powerless 85-year-old who suffered a dreadful experience.
FIND OUT MORE: Should you break into a car to free a trapped dog during heatwave?
A member of the family and neighbour hurried to her help however the awful pensioner was verified dead quickly later on in April 2021. Pritchard, 44, from Smethwick, was imprisoned for 4 years and 9 months after confessing being the owner or an individual in charge of a dog alarmingly out of control triggering injury leading to death.
The sentencing over the stunning occurrence and latest worrying information have actually put hazardous dogs back in the spotlight. Last month a group of MPs tabled an early day movement stating the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 was ‘woefully inefficient’ and required brand-new laws to safeguard the general public.
Campaigners have actually cautioned any dog has the prospective to attack. Dr Samantha Gaines, a dog well-being specialist at the RSPCA, said breed was not a trusted step of aggressiveness.
She said: “Any dog, despite their breed, has the prospective to bite, and whether it establishes aggressive behaviour is an intricate interaction in between genes and life time experiences. Adding extra dogs to the existing list of forbidden types, or procedures which look for to handle specific kinds of dog due to the fact that they are thought to be more hazardous than others, will not efficiently safeguard the general public.”
READ NEXT:
Dozens of West Midlands police officers faced sex offence allegations
Warning Birmingham Airport strikes could throw summer holidays into chaos
