This new Bill has been laid before Parliament to replace the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. The DDA is a UK Act of Parliament but this new Bill, if passed, will apply to Scotland only.

Below is a short summary of the Bill.

1. The bill modernises the law on control of dogs. It enables local authorities to impose measures on the owner, or the person in charge, of a dog where that person has failed to keep the dog under control. It also extends the liability of a person where a dog is dangerously out of control under the dangerous dogs act 1991 to all places, not only public places.
    
2. The bill repeals the dogs act 1871 (“the 1871 act”). Section 2 of that act enables a court to make an order that a dog has to be kept under control by the owner or destroyed following a complaint that it is dangerous and not kept under proper control. The bill replaces requirements under the 1871 act with a new regime of dog control notices which can be issued by local authorities without application to the courts. The dangerous dogs act 1989, which extends and supplements the 1871 act, is also repealed.

It has long been known that the DDA is a flawed piece of legislation brought in as a knee-jerk reaction to some terrible tragedies.

However, the Control of Dogs Bill clearly states that a dog must be under control in both public and private places and under the control of a person over the age of 16.

There are specific sections dealing with ‘apprehensiveness’ which is, of course, very subjective.

3.Subsection (3) makes provision as to when a dog is out of control. This requires both that the proper person is not keeping the dog under control effectively and consistently, and that the behaviour of the dog, or the size and power of the dog, gives rise to alarm or apprehensiveness on the part of any person. The two parts of the test require to be met. A dog which is large and powerful and which might otherwise cause alarm or apprehensiveness but is kept under control by the proper person is not out of control. Whereas a dog which may not be large or powerful but behaves in a manner which causes alarm or apprehensiveness and the proper person fails to control it effectively is out of control. The alarm and apprehensiveness must also be reasonable. This means that the behaviour of the dog and any resulting alarm or apprehensiveness will be viewed from an objective standpoint.

Full details of the whole Bill can be found by following the link below

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/29-dogControl/b29s3-introd.pdf