Top Ten Dangerous Dogs
Posted by admin on January 27th, 2009This post is concerned with the top 10 most dangerous dogs and the information is drawn from the Center For Disease Control. However, readers should need no reminding that all dogs are potentially dangerous, some more so than others. Readers should also keep in mind that small dogs, and those with the name for been friendly like the Dachshund and Beagle can also be dangerous. Remember at the end of the day a dog is decended from a wolf!
Top 10 Dangerous Dogs according to the Center For Disease Control
- Pit Bulls
- Rottweilers
- German Shepherds
- Huskies
- Alaskan Malamutes
- Doberman Pinschers
- Chow Chows
- Great Danes
- St. Bernards
- Akitas
It is important to remember that any type of dog is potentially dangerous under the right circumstances. Many people believe that smaller dogs are less ferocious than larger ones, but even friendly dogs such as Dachshunds, Schnauzers, and Beagles can inflict serious damage or even death under the wrong circumstances.
In the United Kingdom the law defining dangerous dogs is contained in The Dangerous Dog Act 1991.
The Dangerous Dog law bans the breeding and sale or exchange of four breeds: pit bull terriers, Japanese Tosas, the Dog Argentinos and The Fila Brasileiros. Cross breeds of those dogs are covered by the law.
The Dangerous Dog Act also bans other dogs ‘appearing..to be bred for fighting or to have the characteristics of a type bred for that purpose are also outlawed.
The act says that owners of a ‘dogs known as a a pit bull terriers’ must have it neutered and kept muzzled and on a lead in public
It is important to note that, in the UK, dangerous dogs are classified by “type”, not by breed label. This means that whether a dog is considered dangerous, and therefore prohibited, will depend on a judgment about its physical characteristics, and whether they match the description of a prohibited ‘type’. This assessment of the physical characteristics is made by a court.
If a dog is dangerously out of control in a public place – then the owner or the person in charge of the dog is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog while so out of control injures any person, an aggravated offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
Section 10(2) of the 1991 The Dangerous Dog legislation defines a public place as meaning any street, road or other place to which the public have, or are permitted to have access. This definition is intended to cover, for instance, those parts of a block of flats where, although there may be a secure front entry door so that the interior of the flat is not a place to which the public has unrestricted access, nevertheless the common parts are, in all other respects, a public place.
American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT)
Difficulties arose about the APBT as it is not recognised by the Government or the UK Kennel Club as a pure breed. Under the Dangerous Dog Act the definition of a ‘type known as a pit bull terrier’ had to be legally designated. The Queen’s Bench Divisional Court decided in July 1993 that: ‘They could properly conclude that a dog was of the type known as the pit bull terrier if its characteristics substantially conformed to the American Dog Breeders Association’s standard.’
The standards for the APBT are however, extremely vague by UK pure breed standards. This means that many dogs, regardless of parentage could be considered a ‘pit bull type’. Hundreds of crossbred dogs and their owners have suffered as a result of this definition. Under the Dangers Dog Act it has become even more difficult for owners to fight these cases because the burden of proof lies with the defence. The owner has to prove to the court that the dog is not a ‘pit bull type’ rather than the police having to prove that it is.
When a dog is suspected to be illegal, and fall under the terms of the Dangerous Dog Act, the police seize it and take it to a secret location. It is almost impossible for the owner to visit the dog and welfare reports on the dogs in police care are rarely forthcoming. In 1997, the average length of incarceration for a dog in these cases was two years and four months. The longest period for any dog being held was over seven years.
Tags: dangerous dogs
Something I feel alot of people have forgotten, Pit Bulls were NOT bread for fighting, they were bread for helping butchers gain control of large game. They also were originally used in hunting smaller game. It wasnt until later they found it “entertaining” to fight them in pits. And why do we only hear about Pit Bulls in the media? Is the media waiting for a Pit Bull story to emerge and forget the rest of the list of dangerous dogs?