Sharron Berry spent two months in hospital after the pet dog she got from a rescue centre ravaged her arm.

Despite the horrific attack – which resulted in Sharron undergoing an eight-hour operation, having several skin grafts and bone removed from her legs and upper body to save her arm – the Bradford dog lover wasn’t put off by her experience.

Sharron, who has had dogs all her life, currently shares her home with her loving and good-natured Dog de Bordeaux, Kieva. She has previously kept Dobermans and Alsatian. “I’ve never been scared of dogs,” she says.

Some dogs are more temperamental than others, and Sharron says past experience in the way they were treated can have an impact on their behaviour.

She is convinced that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, which came from a rescue centre had “behavioural issues”, but to this day she doesn’t think it was the dog’s fault. And since she is a responsible dog owner, the attack wasn’t her fault either.

When the Telegraph & Argus launched its Curb The Danger Dogs campaign in 2006, Sharron was one of its supporters.

The campaign sought changes in the law, including the compulsory microchipping of all dogs, and Sharron welcomes the Government’s plans, announced last week, to make it compulsory for all dogs in England to be microchipped.

But she wants to see the legislation go further. She believes dog owners should be fined if their pet is picked up and isn’t microchipped. She also wants to see the reintroduction of dog licences so pets can be traced back to their owner.

“If a dog is registered, like a car, it is registered to you at your address,” says Sharron.

She says just as when a car is sold, when a dog passes into new ownership the change of ownership should be registered too.

As well as compulsory microchipping, the Government also plans to extend legal protection over dog attacks to cover incidents on private property.

Sharron questions the implications this may have and asks, for example, if a pet dog attacks a burglar who has entered their property can the burglar take action?

She advises all dog owners to put signs outside their properties warning visitors they have a dog, and also consider putting their postboxes outside the gate so strangers don’t need to enter the property.

Compulsory microchipping will also help in reuniting stray dogs with their owners. Last year Bradford Council dealt with approximately 800 stray dogs.

“If all dogs were microchipped it would make it easier to reunite a lost dog with its owner,” says Councillor Andrew Thornton, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Environment, Sport and Sustainability.

“I welcome the move towards compulsory microchipping on one level, but doubt that this on its own will tackle irresponsible owners or improve public safety.”

He says the Council works with the Dogs Trust and the RSPCA to promote responsible dog ownership and advise people on how they can prevent their dogs straying in the first instance.

But how will the microchipping be enforced?

Joanne Housley, environmental health manager and manager of Bradford’s Dog Warden service, says: “We have two years now for the legislation to come in, so we have time to review what the dog warden service is going to do and how we will take on board the changes, but we welcome the compulsory microchipping. Practically, it is going to be of value for the stray dog element.”

Joanne says that while a microchipped pet can be returned to their owner more swiftly, it won’t necessarily curb the problem.

She says it may rely on a dog coming into contact with the dog warden service for them to find out whether or not it is chipped.

Dogs Trust chief executive Clarissa Baldwin says: “For many years Dogs Trust has led the campaign for the introduction of compulsory microchipping and we applaud the decision the Government has taken, which represents a hugely significant and progressive breakthrough for dog welfare.”