Dog Owners To Face Same Consequences As Reckless Drivers

Dog owners could be treated with the same jail terms as reckless drivers in an upcoming law. It may be time to get your pet trained if he or she is a little dangerous.

If your dog kills a person in the UK, you could face just as much jail time as you would if you have run them over personally. That’s what the government wants to do to force people to start controlling their dogs more. Apparently dogs killing people has become a big enough problem to warrant jail time for the irresponsible owners.

The only flaw in this new law seems to be if the dog is just running wild and no owner can be proven. Also, does it apply to police dogs whose job it is to take down fleeing suspects?

The current jail time for dog owners whose pets attack people has maxed out at two years. Lawmakers feel that isn’t enough time to get the point across, and are calling for the same amount of jail time as you would get if you killed a pedestrian in a motor vehicle. It doesn’t matter if your pet is a doberman pinscher or a poodle. The government wants you to control your canine or face more severe consequences.

According to a new law penned on Tuesday, if your dog attacks another person and kills them, the murder is on your hands and could land you up to 14 years in prison. This is rather generous considering what was said in a recent poll about the punishment one should face when their dog kills another person. The majority had voted for a life sentence.

The government is taking it easy on you by comparison.

The numbers are rising among dog attacks gone lethal, now at 16 people since 2005, with over 6,000 requiring hospitalization. Dog owners just aren’t controlling their pets enough and someone has to step in and tell their furry best friend they’ve been bad, or the government will step in and say it to the owners.

Guide Dogs chief executive Richard Leaman is attempting to do his part, even though it costs thousand of pounds to train each dog. He adds:

“Guide Dogs has long campaigned for tougher sanctions against irresponsible dog owners. It’s clear that the vast majority of respondents to this survey agree and we are pleased the government is listening – though we would have liked to see a longer maximum sentence for a crime of this brutality.”

Do you think dog owners should face the same incarceration as reckless drivers for lethal dog attacks?