Yahoo News Calls for 'all' UK pet owners to have mandatory dog licence
Calls have emerged for dog licences to be made law in the UK - meaning pet owners must hold one as mandatory. The fresh calls for new dog licences to better control unruly pets up and down the country came as Right to Roam spoke out about the issue.
Campaigners want a deal for dogs to protect farmers' livestock and vulnerable wildlife. Naturalist and author Amy-Jane Beer, of the Right to Roam campaign, said: "We love dogs and we recognise their value in getting people out into the outdoors," said
"For a lot of people, the dog is their connection with nature, but dogs bring challenges and that requires a renewed social contract between dog owners and nature where we manage that relationship with care." She said it was "absurd" that the Government had no idea of the UK's dog population, reports Birmingham Live.
"Wildlife and dogs are all being forced into the same spaces, while arguably people are excluded from more robust bits of habitat," said Beer. "We're not asking for a right to take dogs into sensitive places or let them run amok in pastures, but if we had more places to go we could also have more places where we shouldn't be allowed to take dogs."
"Lack of attention and lack of regulation over 35 years has just allowed a problem to build up and it's becoming apparent because there are more dogs in the country than there's ever been," said Beer. "The Right to Roam policy of registration for owners and dogs is very sensible.
"As farmers, we're expected to have every single animal electronically tagged so it is fully traceable. It seems crazy that isn't the case for dogs as well. Owners need to be answerable for the behaviour of their dogs. People don't understand that their dogs are predators and even the kindest dogs can have a moment."
