A letter published in today´s Independent has asked a question about what a parent should do when their child is bitten by a dog off a lead in a public park.
Fortunately the child´s skin was not punctured and, other than the trauma of being attacked by the dog, the boy did not suffer any injury. Nonetheless, his parent took him to hospital for a precautionary tetanus injection.
The issue raised by the parent was that the owner of the dog said that he was allowed to let his dog off the lead between certain hours, and whereas this might be the case in certain local authorities, the parent wanted to know if there were other standards in place to prevent a child being bitten by a dog off a lead in a public place.
In answer to the question, the Independent´s legal advisor listed some of the legislation governing the control of pets in public places and gave the parent a number of options.
According to the legal advisor, all dogs in public places must be under the control of their owner or another person able to control the animal (Control of Dogs Act 1986 and 1992). Under Section 22 of the Act, a dog that is proven to have attacked a person has not been kept under control and is dealt with as a “dangerous dog”.
This means that that the parent could report their child being bitten by a dog off a lead in a public place and the District Court could impose fines on the owner and order to have the dog destroyed – irrespective of any bye-laws.
The parent could also make a claim for compensation on behalf of their child for being bitten by a dog off a lead in a public place under the Civil Liability Act 1961, even though the boy did not suffer any physical injury.
The legal advisor also quoted figures from the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA), who estimates that up to half of children will have been bitten by a dog by the age of 12; although the majority of these incidents involve a family pet who has been teased or unintentionally provoked.
Nationwide there were 3,654 on-the-spot fines issued and 225 dog owners prosecuted under the Control of Dogs Act in 2010.