A vicious dog attack in Bradford in 1991 left six-year-old Rukhsana Khan with appalling injuries which shocked the nation and pushed the Government into drawing up the Dangerous Dogs' Act.

Fifteen years on, it has become increasingly clear that that hurriedly-drafted legislation is deeply flawed.

Horrific dog attacks on children as well as adults regularly occur in our district and elsewhere across the country because major omissions in the Act are failing to protect the public.

Other loopholes mean that some dog owners - who, after all, are really to blame for ignoring or failing their responsibility to control their animals - often escape any form of prosecution.

So today the Telegraph & Argus is launching a campaign to toughen up the Act in five key areas. Our Curb the Danger Dogs Campaign is intended to persuade the Government to ensure that:

  • Compulsory registration for ALL dogs is introduced rather than the current system which limits it to certain breeds;
  • ALL dogs are microchipped to allow ownership to be traced;
  • Mandatory life bans from dog ownership are introduced for anyone convicted of having a dangerous dog;
  • A record of control orders is kept on every dog's registration;
  • A specific offence of allowing a dog to stray is added to the Act with fixed penalty fines for owners to prevent dogs being out of control at any time.
We are not alone in having huge concerns about the current state of the Dangerous Dogs' Act. Terry Singh, Bradford Council's Dog Warden Manager, deals with the legislation every day of his working life. His damning verdict is that it is "unworkable".

And he says the Act desperately needs to be strengthened to help reduce the number of attacks by dangerous dogs.

Of course the vast majority of dog owners are responsible citizens but, as so often is the case, it is the lawless minority who cause the problems.

The attack on Rukhsana a decade and a half ago opened an appalled nation's eyes to the dangers caused by out-of-control dogs. There can be no excuse for the Government to fail to ensure that the law is updated to protect the public.

Meanwhile, Bradford's councillors have an opportunity at today's meeting of the full Council to put their own pressure on the Government to act by supporting a key motion proposed by Coun Mohammed Masood (Con, Heaton), which calls on the Government to take action over dangerous dogs to help reduce the numbers of serious attacks in the district.

We would urge them to take this golden opportunity to support our campaign and help show a district united in its determination to end this menace.