Dog amnesty 'could be implemented across UK'

An amnesty allowing owners to hand over dangerous dogs could be implemented across the UK, animal welfare workers said today.

Dog amnesty 'could be implemented across UK'

An amnesty allowing owners to hand over dangerous dogs could be implemented across the UK, animal welfare workers said today.

Campaigners said the option should be considered after five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson was mauled to death by her family pit bull terrier-type dog in Merseyside.

Ballymena Borough Council in Co Antrim has introduced the UK’s first scheme allowing owners to hand in dogs without prosecution.

David Wilson from the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said: “Something has to be done…If an amnesty can be put out there, yes.

“We are trying to get at people involved in dog fights. From an animal-welfare point of view, we see that as the problem.

“We say there should be an amnesty giving people six or three months to have the dogs reported, neutered and chipped.

“We are not saying these dogs should all be destroyed, but they should be muzzled in public.”

Ellie was attacked at her grandmother’s house in St Helens yesterday.

Post-mortem examination tests revealed she died of severe head and neck injuries.

Her grandmother was badly injured in the attack by the pit bull terrier-type dog, which was later destroyed.

Officials will meet to examine reports of previous attacks by the animal.

Police found the child in the living room of the property in Knowles House Avenue, Eccleston, on yesterday morning.

Ellie’s grandmother, Jackie Simpson, managed to lock the dog outside but suffered injuries to tendons in her arm and wounds to her thumb and elbow.

Two pit bull terriers have already been handed in and destroyed at Ballymena.

Owners of the outlawed breed have been given the whole of January to hand over the animals.

Town dog warden Nigel Devine said nine owners had already asked for their animals to be checked. They can unwittingly buy dogs like pit bulls.

The idea for an amnesty followed a pit bull attack on a family in Co Antrim in November.

Sean and Deirdre Doherty, their son Ben and a family friend escaped with minor injuries after an horrific attack by a pit bull-type dog in Randalstown Forest Park.

Other outlawed breeds include the Japanese tosa, the Dogo Argentino, and the Fila Brasileiro.

Cross-bred dogs that resemble those four types of dog are also outlawed.

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