In 2022 the police also seized 3,500 dogs that were either strays, people going to prison or those out of control
Dogs which cause death or injury to a person or an assistance dog must be reported to the police, but attacks on other animals, being a nuisance or behaving in an anti-social manner are not required to be reported so in fact these figures are not remotely close to the complete picture.
Without a doubt, the reputation of Britain being a nation of animal lovers is being somewhat tarnished by the irresponsible behaviour of a minority.
As I think back to my time when I was known as a man to go to for people who had dog problems, it has become obvious that for everyone who came to me and others to sort out their problems, there were innumerable others who have just allowed their dogs to continually misbehave.
A further problem is the choice of a breed that is totally incompatible with people’s lifestyles. I have raised this issue many times regarding the inappropriate adoption of working dogs in pet homes if there is no mental stimulation. Working breeds are totally unsuited to pet homes unless they have an outlet for their working instinct. Boredom leads to bad behaviour, which creates anti-social traits and finally to dangerous behaviour.
Of course, a further problem is the machismo attitude that prevails amongst a minority of individuals who revel in behaving badly themselves and having an anti-social canine
These behaviour problems have not been helped with the advent of Covid. Unfortunately, the dramatic increase in dog ownership is partly down to people who were confined to their homes and decided that owning a pet would be company and as it was possible to get out to exercise a dog, this was a very desirable course of action. Sadly the return to normality caused many dogs to be left at home as people return to work causing boredom and destructiveness. This has led to people dumping their unwanted pets in shelters and others to have resorted to poor practices when trying to control bad behaviour, which has resulted in thousands of dogs that are totally out of control
To make matters worse, the punishments handed out to owners are usually a fine of a few hundred pounds and if the owner of a dog has no money the fine cannot be paid then basically there is no deterrent. Sadly it is well known that ineffective punishments are a waste of time, so what is the answer?
Well, funnily enough, this fits in nicely with a pet project of mine. (forgive the pun – it wasn’t intentional)
I believe that the most receptive time to learn is when we are young, so maybe we need to place a higher emphasis on some of the skills that we will need all our lives and less on others, which to the majority will have very little practical use. I know that I am treading on hallowed ground here but isn’t our school curriculum part of the problem?
Let me give you an example. Most of us older folk spent part of our time learning Algebra, Trigonometry and Latin etc which, on a daily basis, was wasted because we were never in a form of employment that required this knowledge, however, when we left school we found that we had no understanding or preparation for opening a bank account, handling day to day finances, shopping in a supermarket and as for animal welfare it never got a look in. It could be argued that these issues should be the responsibility of parents, but it could also be argued that life skills and understanding the requirements to be a good citizen with an appreciation of what is needed to behave responsibly is part of education. It is just as important as being able to read and write.
I may be whistling in the wind here, but it just seems to me that learning about finance and animal husbandry is a lot more practical than trigonometry, as these are issues that will affect all of us in adult life.
Maybe, just maybe there is also a case to be made for the return of the licence fee. This was discontinued as the cost of collecting the money exceeded the financial benefit to the government. Compulsory insurance could be another avenue.
As always, I don’t claim to have all the answers, but it appears to me that standards of behaviour have definitely deteriorated, and this is reflected in the behaviour of our pets. I know what some of you are thinking. “Sad grumpy old man living in the past.” I don’t think so. Whether we like it or not, anti-social behaviour has slowly increased over the years leading to confrontations that inevitably lead to violence. The crime and disorder act UK 1998 defines antisocial behaviour as “acting In a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons, not from the same household.” In a two-year period, 2021 and 2022, there were nearly two and a half million; yes two and a half MILLION reported cases of antisocial behaviour. Bearing in mind that this figure yet again only applies to those reported. If this is the case with humans, then it’s no surprise that we now have a generation of canines with behaviour issues. Maybe there is a case to be made for law and order lessons along with anger management.
Having chatted with a number of friends, they have put forward their own ideas.
So now I have changed the entire curriculum for schools to include…..
Any other ideas?
It is accepted by all government agencies, healthcare professionals and charitable organisations that lack of education is a contributory factor in people’s attraction to criminality and undesirable behaviour.
As you and I know, any form of unacceptable behaviour by dogs is mainly down to the failure of humans, so if you educate people early with a syllabus that includes life skills, surely it is reasonable to assume that it will be beneficial to us all.
“Our dogs teach us more than we could have expected and love us more than we could have imagined. That’s why we miss them more than we could ever express!”
John Knychala
With subtitle or not?