In the dog house

Wolverhampton Homes might take issue with the idea that dogs are man’s best friend.

The arm’s-length management organisation took tenant Penelope Watton to court last month after her dogs killed a neighbour’s chickens and a cat. She eventually signed an undertaking at Wolverhampton County Court not to keep the bullmastiff and Staffordshire bull terrier at her home.

In a separate case last week, Oxford County Court granted a possession order to housing association A2Dominion to evict Roger Sutton, 62, who was keeping 38 Dorset old tyme bulldogs at his three-bedroom semi in Colwell Drive, Witney.

The stories might seem unusual but they shed light on an issue that is becoming increasingly serious for housing officers and tenants alike.

On the attack
Figures obtained by Inside Housing from the Health and Safety Executive reveal there were six dog attacks on housing and welfare officers in 2008/9 that were so serious the victims needed more than three days off work. That is the same number that took place in the previous two years combined.

So why is the problem on the rise and what can landlords do about it?

Four types of dog are classed as ‘dangerous’ in law and banned in the UK: the pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro.

The Metropolitan Police Service has seen the number of dangerous dogs processed through the courts leap from 35 in 2002/3 to 719 in 2008/9, and spent £1.35 million last year kennelling the animals while awaiting outcomes.

The fashion for ‘status’ pit bull-type dogs has spread to irresponsible owners, typically gangs on inner city estates, which use them as weapons to defend territory and settle arguments.

Joanne Kent-Smith, the Chartered Institute of Housing’s senior policy and practice officer, claims there is ‘increasing concern’ in the sector about dogs, and the use of them to intimidate other tenants.

‘Every housing officer I know experiences problems with dogs on a regular basis,’ says Elaine Morgan, estate manager for Wolverhampton Homes.
She says staff are witnessing more young women with aggressive dogs, ‘alarmingly, often living in a household with young children’, and that it is ‘almost impossible’ for housing officers to establish breeds, meaning a dangerous dog could be left in a home.

Last month, the government responded to rising public concern with a consultation about changing dangerous dog legislation in England and Wales. Proposals include introducing compulsory microchipping for all breeds.

Wandsworth Council, which earned a gold medal in the RSPCA’s Community Animal Welfare Footprints good practice scheme, already has a microchipping policy in place. All dogs in its 34,000 homes must be microchipped, which the council does free of charge. It introduced the policy in January last year after finding many owners following the fashion for ‘bull-type breeds’ were failing to take proper care of their animals. So far, more than 2,200 dogs are registered.

‘Ruff’ justice
The government consultation also suggests extending the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to cover private property - a move Duncan Forbes, chief executive of Bron Afon Community Housing in Wales, welcomes.

Currently, it is only a criminal offence for an owner to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place or a private place where the animal is not permitted. This meant that when one of Mr Forbes’ housing officers needed 30 stitches after a Staffordshire bull terrier ripped away part of her lip last year the police could not take action because the attack happened in a tenant’s home and the dog was not classed as a dangerous breed under UK law.

Many landlords might be tempted to ban the keeping of dogs to protect staff and residents. But the RSPCA, which launched a guide for housing providers last month, is keen to ensure high-profile incidents do not cloud landlords’ overall judgement. It says they must maintain a balance and ensure tenancy clauses ‘do not vilify pet owners generally, or owners of specific animals such as dogs’.

Edinburgh Council is one landlord that is embracing pet ownership. The 21,318-home landlord is overturning its existing blanket ban on dogs in multi-storey flats to run a pilot project alongside the Scottish SPCA. The scheme will allow dogs in two high-rise blocks - Greendykes House and Wauchope House, which contain 160 flats in total. A spokesperson said the previous policy banning dogs was ‘difficult to enforce and disadvantaged responsible pet owners’.

Greendykes House residents, decorator Alex Robertson and partner Sandra Storrie, are certainly proof of those words. They have lived with their six-year-old springer spaniel Flint in their fourth floor flat for three years. Mr Robertson, 55, says dogs in high-rises are not a problem as long as they do not annoy neighbours. ‘There are no bad dogs,’ he explains. ‘There are just bad owners.’

Landlords like Edinburgh and Wandsworth are something of an exception, however, with many social landlords unclear on their policies clear, if they have them at all. A Pathway survey in 2004 found that more than half of providers did not state their pet policy in tenancy agreements. In an attempt to improve landlords’ performance, the Pets Advisory Committee, a coalition including animal welfare charities and vets, launched new guidelines for housing providers last month.

Mr Forbes says that the biggest problem is that providers do not have the resources to enforce pet policies effectively. ‘You can have as many bits of paper as you like that say, “you can’t have an alligator or snake”, but unless someone witnesses that alligator or snake, the pet policy isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,’ he says. (Incidentally, the Scottish SPCA once found an alligator in the bath of a 15th floor flat).

And, unfortunately, even the best policies in the world can’t prevent all problems. The dog that attacked Bron Afron’s officer had not been assessed as being a risk.

‘There’s never any certainty that they won’t behave any differently - like this dog did - from the week before,’ Mr Forbes warns.

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