Released: Monday May 6, 2002

Banning dogs won't stop dog attacks

Veterinarians say moves by some governments to ban certain breeds of dogs won't stop dangerous dogs attacking people and may lead to more injuries if people believed a ban meant no dangerous dogs were in the community.

The Australian Veterinary Association, staging its annual conference in Adelaide this week, has been told that determination to enforce tough legislation was needed to address the problem of dangerous dogs and banning specific breeds was not the answer.

AVA spokesperson and animal behaviour consultant, Dr Kersti Seksel, said all breeds of dogs have the potential to be aggressive.

What is important in addressing the problem of dangerous dogs in our society is to look at the deed and not the breed," Dr Seksel said.

"What this means is ensuring that laws are tough enough to discourage people from turning their pets into dangerous animals either deliberately or through their ignorance about dogs' behaviour.

"Legislation currently requires microchip identification and registration of dangerous dogs with local authorities. But on top of that, owners should be required to keep their dangerous dogs indoors or in a secure child-proof enclosure. Warning signs should be displayed that can be understood by children.

"If the dog is taken off the owner's premises, it should be muzzled, leashed and under effective control. And if a declared dangerous dog becomes a stray it must be humanely destroyed.

"These are the sorts of measures that will prevent dog attacks on humans. If these measures are not taken and governments take the simplistic but misguided approach of banning certain breeds they will be putting the community at further risk.

"If the community believes that by banning certain breeds of dogs they are safe from attacks from dangerous dogs, then complacency becomes a problem that could lead to a tragedy.

"There is no doubt that as a society we must deal with the management of dangerous dogs. Veterinarians, especially animal behaviour specialists, are in the best position to be able to give credible advice to governments that is based on science and years of experience and understanding of dogs and their owners," Dr Seksel said.

PLEASE NOTE Further information, please contact: Dr Kersti Seksel 0427 353 711 or Chris Brown (MediaSpeak) 0408 026 158 or Steve Ireland (AVA) 02/9411 2733