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On treating the symptoms and not the cause: reflections on the Dangerous Dogs Act

On treating the symptoms and not the cause: reflections on the Dangerous Dogs Act

Kaspersson, Maria (2008) On treating the symptoms and not the cause: reflections on the Dangerous Dogs Act. In: British Criminology Conference, 9 - 11 July, 2008, University of Huddersfield.

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Abstract

The experience of saving a dog that later turned out to be a Pit Bull and therefore banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, made me investigate the Act and its implications. The Act is not built on evidence and by compiling results from different studies on dog bites and breed‐specific legislation in different countries the conclusion is that there is not much empirical support for breed bans either. ‘Dangerous breeds’ do not bite more frequently than German Shepherds and directing legislation towards certain breeds deemed as ‘dangerous’ cannot therefore be seen as justified. The strength of the label ‘dangerous dog’ seems to rule out policies that follow the facts and there is more treating of symptoms than causes. [From the Author]

Item Type: Conference or Conference Paper (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords: dangerous dogs, breed-specific legislation,
Subjects: K Law > KD England and Wales
Pre-2014 Departments: School of Humanities & Social Sciences
School of Humanities & Social Sciences > Department of Law & Criminology
Related URLs:
Last Modified: 02 Oct 2019 14:46
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/1452

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