Government to prevent dangerous dog attacks
The government are attempting to stop dangerous dog attacks by making it mandatory that a chip is inserted under their skin when they are puppies. The chip will contain information about their human owner so that, should they bite someone, the owner can be traced and be made to answer for the actions of their pet. 5000 dogs are chipped voluntarily in the UK every week and it has been compulsory to chip your dog in Northern Ireland since Easter. This measure can be seen as controversial because it will be up to the owners to pay for their dogs to be chipped, this may make it impossible for many families to own a dog as it can cost between £20-30 per chip. However, it must be asked the extent to which this provision will stop dangerous dog incidents. It will not really make the attacks stop, it will just mean there is someone to blame after the attacks happen. There may be more effective ways of solving this problem such as not breeding aggressive dog types, prevention through muzzles or ensuring that dogs are kept on their leads at all times. The chipping measures seem fairly weak in dealing with an important problem.
Angelika Bobkovica (Year7) said: “I think it is a really good idea, because it will save time and make it easier to find out who owns the dogs.”
Lauren Carter (Year 7) said: “It’s a good idea because it’s easy to identify them but, it’s a bad idea as well, if the government are making you do it, you shouldn’t have to pay for it.”
“Every dog must have his day.”
– Jonathan Swift
