You and Your Dog: ‘Be aware public behaviour laws’
The courts in SA will usually rule in favour of the victim of a dog bite, it is only in very rare cases that the court will rule in favour of the owner.
In this series of articles I will endeavour to explain in the simplest way possible how the laws regarding how your dog’s behaviour can affect both you and the general public, with whom you may come into contact.
I am a qualified animal behaviourist, specialising in canine behaviour. I am UK qualified with a higher diploma (with distinction).
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Many dog owners fall foul of the law as they are ignorant of the law, laws are put in place to protect not only humans but animals as well.
Let us take a closer look at these laws.
No dog should be allowed to run free in any public area, this includes taking your dog to the beach.
The fact is all dogs are capable of biting, be it a human or another dog.
Something might trigger your dog.
By keeping your dog restrained on a leash, you are able to control the dog.
It is your responsibility to be in control of your dog, if your dog bites another dog or a human you are considered to be in the wrong.
The courts in SA will usually rule in favour of the victim of a dog bite, it is only in very rare cases that the court will rule in favour of the owner.
You as the owner are always responsible for the behaviour of your dog.
Let’s look at a court case that took place in Pretoria in the 1980s:
An owner had an extremely vicious guard dog on his residential property.
On his gate he had a warning sign ‘Beware of the Dog’.
An intruder came onto the property one night, the dog killed the intruder.
In this case the court ruled against the dog’s owner, the owner had to euthanise the dog, and was fined.
The court ruled that the dog was out of control.
The court ruled that the owner had by displaying the warning sign on his gate, admitted to having a lethal weapon on his property.
If you own a security company and you supply a security guard with a patrol dog, the security accepts the responsibility of the dog.
If the dog attacks a robber for example, the onus is on the security guard, not the owner of the company.
A dog walker accepts the responsibility when walking dogs for a living, so once the dog has been handed to someone else, the owner is not liable for any problems the dog might cause.
I hope to have enlightened owners with this introduction to the law, in the next article I will go into more detail, of how to prevent aggression and dog bites.
Yvonne Eland
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