Victims of horrific dog attacks in Bradford have given a guarded welcome to a planned crackdown by the Government on dangerous animals but warned they “lack bite”.

In an announcement to Parliament yesterday, Environment Minister Jim Paice revealed plans for the compulsory microchipping of Dogs by breeders so owners can be traced as well as plans to close a loophole in the law so that dog owners will face prosecution if their pet attacks someone on their property.

Both measures were among a wider list of demands made by the Telegraph & Argus six years ago when we started a campaign to toughen up the Dangerous Dogs Act, which was rushed through Parliament after Bradford six-year-old Rukhsana Khan was left with life-changing injuries in a savage attack by a pit bull terrier in 1991.

Last night former teacher and magistrate Sue Brown – who was mauled by a dog in Heaton woods in 2007 – 16 years after her former pupil Rukhsana was savaged – said she did not think the proposed legislation went far enough.

Mrs Brown, 62, who was left with serious injuries to her right arm in the attack, said: “Nothing’s changed for me. These changes lack bite. I think of what’s happened to Rukhsana and other children and it makes me really sad.

“I still see people out with what I can only describe as designer thug dogs and these are the sort of people who won’t get their dogs chipped. I’m glad something’s being done but it won’t change anything. The current laws aren’t enforced anyway.”

The Dangerous Dogs Act came into force in 1991, banning pit bull terriers, the Japanese tosa, the dogo Argentino and the fila Brasileiro. Regardless of their behaviour, any dog suspected of being one of these illegal types can be seized, detained and ultimately destroyed.

During yesterday’s announcement, Mr Paice said the Government was proposing a “comprehensive package of measures that tackle the problem head on” by protecting visitors to private properties and allowing the police to take action before someone is hurt or killed.

However, Mary Davies, 42, whose seven-year-old daughter Demi Franklyn was savaged by an akita three years ago, also said the law needed to go further.

Only yesterday the T&A reported how the youngster was still undergoing operations for damage to her facial muscles after the dog turned on her outside their then home in Windmill, Shipley.

Mrs Davies, now of Buttershaw, said: “These changes don’t go far enough. All dogs should be muzzled when they’re out – people say their dogs are safe but no dogs are safe all the time. I’m lucky my daughter’s still here. Other people have had children killed in dog attacks.

“The law needs to go even further.”

Elizabeth Hellmich, of Bradford's Safe project, who collected more than 1,000 names on a T&A petition to the Government calling for tougher laws as part of the Curb The Danger Dogs campaign in 2006, cautiously welcomed the action.

She said: “It’s excellent – it’s a little bit late, but it’s good that we’re finally being listened to.

“They say dangerous dogs, but often it’s not the dog that’s dangerous, it’s down to the owner. My only concern with the plan is that it’s preaching to the converted. The owners that are responsible will get it done, but those who aren’t may go underground to avoid the eyes of the police and RSPCA.

“A lot of people have been very seriously hurt or even killed in dog attacks, so if this goes part of the way to stopping that it’s a step in the right direction.”

The latest figures from Yorkshire and Humberside Strategic Health Authority show there were 881 dog bite admissions at A&E departments in the region between May 2010 and April 2011.

The Communication Workers’ Union which represents postal staff – which collected 10,000 signatures on a petition in its own Bite Back Campaign after a rise in attacks against posties – said action was “long overdue”.

Mick Gledhill, area safety manager for the union’s Bradford branch, said: “Our union has been lobbying for these changes and any measures that will protect our members from dangerous dogs will be welcomed.”

No-one at Bradford Council was available to comment but a spokesman said its dog wardens collected 803 stray dogs in the district in 2011/12 – an increase on 690 the year before.