After a steady increase in people injured by dogs in recent years, the government’s proposals for changes to the law are now being sent out to animal rights organizations and various authorities. Among other things, it will be easier to mentally inspect dangerous dogs, a need Cold facts highlighted in several reports.
– I think these are good measures – but you miss the preventive work, says dog trainer Fredrik Steen to TV4 Nyheterna.
Last year, over 4,400 people were bitten or attacked by a dog, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare’s figures. 312 were so seriously injured that they needed to be hospitalized.
In order to stop dangerous dogs and reduce their attacks on people and animals, the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure sent several proposals on Tuesday, based on the State Office’s report Dog under control, for referral to the relevant bodies.
Several changes in the law
It involves several changes to the law to improve supervision. The county administrations must, for example, be allowed to make home visits and they must also be able to decide on temporary care for dogs for mental examination. In addition, the person who is the subject of the inspection shall be obliged to provide the assistance needed for the inspection to be carried out.
The proposal also means that there should be an opportunity for the Police Authority to decide in certain cases on the euthanasia of animals taken into care according to the Animal Welfare Act.
Want to work more preventively
The dog trainer Fredrik Steen emphasizes that he is, on the whole, very satisfied with the proposed measures, but thinks that there is a lack of focus on the preventive work.
– These dangerous dogs that we are talking about come from somewhere, and here I would have liked to see some type of up-regulation of what we call rogue breeding. It is not talked about at all in this context, he says and elaborates:
– With today’s regulations, it is entirely possible for an unscrupulous person to mate a crazy, mentally ill German shepherd with any dog and then sell the puppies completely without veterinary inspection and mentality tests.
– Here it would be quite simple to introduce a broad requirement for an approved veterinary inspection in order to be allowed to breed a dog.
Big flaws today
In several reports, cold facts have highlighted the shortcomings in how the supervision of dangerous dogs works today, something Rural Affairs Minister Peter Kullgren (KD) has made clear in several interviews that he wants to remedy.
On 28 February, on behalf of the government, the State Office presented a report, Dog under control, which showed that the authorities’ work to stop dangerous dogs worked far too poorly and that both stricter laws and better cooperation are required. During the spring, the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure prepared the report and now, with some additions, send it out for referral to about 40 relevant bodies, such as Animal Rights, the Swedish Courts Administration, the Swedish Kennel Club, the veterinary association and the county administrations. They now have until October 17 to agree on the changes and submit their consultation responses.
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