Warning over dog 'adoptions'

Terry Singh, Bradford Council's dog warden manager, said people considering adopting a rescue dog should make sure they know its history first.

His comments follow news that a dog attack victim has won a four-figure payout from an animal re-homing centre.

The Birmingham man was bitten in the face by the Japanese Akita he was considering adopting from the Dogs Trust.

At the trial it emerged the man had not been told the dog had been a stray and did not like to be with strangers.

Mr Singh said: "Dog recycling is a problem because very often little is known about the animal. Most dogs handed into sanctuaries and rescue centres are no longer wanted by their owners. Some will have been badly treated and often no accurate history is given when the dog is passed over.

"We would advise all potential owners who wish to adopt a dog to ask for information about its behaviour while in the kennels, check the dogs' temperament and ask how friendly the dog has been."

Mr Singh said it was good practice to find out as much information as possible about the dog's history before deciding to home it.

"This is particularly important if people have children," he said.

"Most dogs are adopted on face value and as always, any dog can be unpredictable. If a dog shows any signs of aggression the dog should not be re-homed.

"Dog owners should not become complacent, as any dog will try to challenge the owner and may return to its pack instinct."

Dave Millard, regional superintendent for the north region of the RSPCA, said: "We are trying to give potential dog owners as much information as possible about the dog including its temperament and any history we may know about.

"We want dogs to be homed with suitable families and for families to get the best pet for them."

Mr Singh said many people may be considering buying dogs as Christmas presents.

"Before people make the decision to give pets as presents they should think about all the costs," he said.

"When adopting a dog consider it as a long term commitment for the life of the dog. Average costs are £7 per week, over 52 weeks and the average life of dog is 12-14 years, so the cost could be more than £5,000.

"This does not include vet fees, insurance, bedding, kennelling and most importantly, training costs for the owner and the dog."

Among the aims of the Telegraph & Argus Curb the Danger Dogs Campaign is for compulsory dog registration to be introduced which includes a record of all control orders.

We are also calling for the compulsory micro-chipping of all dogs, mandatory life bans from ownership for anyone convicted of having a dangerous dog, and a specific offence of allowing a dog to stray.

DANGER DOG PETITION LINK

HOW YOU CAN SIGN OUR PETITION

You can back our Curb the Danger Dogs Campaign by signing our petition, which will be submitted to the Home Secre-tary, John Reid.

We want to collect as many signatures as possible in the next month to show Mr Reid the strength of feeling in the dis-trict about the inadequacies of the Dangerous Dogs Act and to put pressure on him to better protect the public against dog at-tacks by acting on the changes to the law we have outlined on the petition.

You can support our campaign simply by adding your own name on the petition online at our publication's website www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk. Or you can print out the petition and ask family, friends and colleagues to sign as well. The more signatures we receive, the stronger our message.

But whatever you can do will add weight to our campaign and help to make it clear to Mr Reid the strength of public feel-ing regarding the desperate need to change the current law.

Remember, you need to return copies of the petition to the T&A (the address is at the foot of the form) by Thursday, Oc-tober 12.

We will then submit all the forms we receive to the Home Office.

• Click here to sign the petition on-line

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