The Kintyre Forum

From Argyll & Bute Council

CAMPBELTOWN DOG OWNER FINED

Argyll and Bute Council issued a dog owner from Campbeltown with a fixed penalty notice on Friday (13th February) for allowing his dog to stray and for failing to put a collar on it displaying the owners name and address.

The dog was observed straying in the Shore Street and St John Street areas of Campbeltown and was seized in St John Street. As a result, the owner was fined £55 by the area's dog warden.

Stewart Turner, Argyll and Bute Council’s Head of Roads and Amenity Services, said: The officers will continue to be pro active in Mid Argyll, Kintyre and Islay to stamp out this shocking display of poor practice by some dog owners."

Just as a matter of interest, now that there is not a dog licence why do you need to put a collar on a dog but not on a cat. I have a dog but we were advised not to put the dogs name or our address on the tag but only to put our phone number on it. Am I in danger of being lifted?

gizmo wrote:Just as a matter of interest, now that there is not a dog licence why do you need to put a collar on a dog but not on a cat. I have a dog but we were advised not to put the dogs name or our address on the tag but only to put our phone number on it. Am I in danger of being lifted?

I think that a change in law recently states that should a dog cause a road accident for instance,the owner could be liable to prosecution.

I realise that but surely the same could be said of my next door neighbours cats or one of 4th Gens sheep.. Why pick on the dogs? Is this discrimination?

gizmo wrote:I realise that but surely the same could be said of my next door neighbours cats or one of 4th Gens sheep.. Why pick on the dogs? Is this discrimination?

From a legal point of view, under the terms of the Road Traffic Act 1988, you must report accidents to the police involving Dogs, Goats, Cows, Horses, Ass, Mule, Pigs and Sheep.

Cats and poultry are not covered by this act as they are classed as free roaming animals. The flip side of this is that you are not liable if your cat causes an accident whereas if your dog causes a road traffic accident then you could be held liable for any costs involved (as are the animals above).

HTH,

Malky

I read a while back that lots of dog owners refuse to put their names and address on dog collars because it can encourage dognapping ,they prefer to have them chipped instead .

Aye, an' I'm told a Carradale dog botherer got his collar felt for thwe same offense a couple o' weeks back, too.

Dr Dog wrote:Aye, an' I'm told a Carradale dog botherer got his collar felt for thwe same offense a couple o' weeks back, too.

Was he the guy that was in prison for this?I believe that when asked how he could stoop so low he replied,"Dacshund?"

The risk of my dog causing an accident (pretty unlikely as she's normally kept well under control, but a risk nervertheless) is what makes me have her insured. The sorts of vet bills I get are usually lower than the 'excess' on the policy, but there's a couple of a million of public liability insurance included, which gives me peace of mind for a very modest premium.

WC1 wrote:The risk of my dog causing an accident (pretty unlikely as she's normally kept well under control, but a risk nervertheless) is what makes me have her insured. The sorts of vet bills I get are usually lower than the 'excess' on the policy, but there's a couple of a million of public liability insurance included, which gives me peace of mind for a very modest premium.

The Personal Liability section of you home contents insurance would usually cover you for your own liability if, for instance, your dog escaped and caused an accident due to your own negligence, such as leaving the garden gate open or failing to repair a fence you knew was defective.

Thanks Rumpole. I suppose that means you'd be covered as long as any accident caused by the dog happened in the vicinity of the house, but not away from home, for example if you were walking it at Westport?