KC Dog
What is KC Dog?
Essentially a national dog owners group, KC Dog is a Kennel Club initiative that has been established to help dog owners protect themselves by; keeping participants informed about local policies that may affect their rights, assisting participants in lobbying at a local level and keeping participants updated about KC Dog activity across the country. It launched at Crufts 2006, in time for when Clause 6 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (Dog Control Orders) came into force on April 6 2006.
What are the Implications of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act?
As part of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act local authorities will be given the power to issue dog control orders. This means that councils will be able to make an order for a standard offence to apply to land within their area. Offences are likely to cover: not putting, and keeping, a dog on a lead when directed to do so by an authorised officer; permitting a dog to enter land from which dogs are excluded; and taking more than a specified number of dogs onto land.
What Effect Will This Have on Dog Owners?
The Kennel Club is concerned that the provisions listed above are very general and wide-ranging. This could result in the local authority taking a disproportionate response to irresponsible behaviour by a minority of dog owners at the expense of the majority. Further the Kennel Club is concerned that fines will be invoked too frequently to raise revenue for local authorities (especially if they are not given adequate funding).
How Will KC Dog Work?
Local authorities must consult on dog control orders prior to introducing them so that members of the public can influence, or at the very least be aware of what Orders are being introduced in their area. However they are only obliged to embark on a consultation process that involves placing an advert in a local newspaper. What is more, even the dog owners that do study their local newspapers will not be kept informed about dog control orders being introduced in other local authority areas so could face prosecution if they walk their dog elsewhere.
Since very few people read the classified section of their local newspapers, the Kennel Club is (in the first instance) lobbying the Government to improve the consultation process. However in the meantime, the Kennel Club is urging all participants to take the time to read through their entire local newspapers to check what Orders are being introduced in their areas.
Participants will therefore be able to keep the Kennel Club informed about what is happening in their local areas with regards to dogs control orders to the best of their knowledge.
In turn, this will enable the Kennel Club to keep ALL participants updated about dog control orders and/or national Kennel Club campaigns that could affect them and assist participants in lobbying at both local and national levels. In addition, KC Dog will be able to advise participants about how best to respond to consultations and communicate with local MPs.
What Else Will KC Dog Do?
KC Dog will also keep participants informed about national Kennel Club campaigns that could affect them and provide participants with information about how to lobby at a national level if requested to do so.
How Do I Join?
When joining to KC Dog you will receive a welcome pack, which includes a number of guideline templates to help you get started and influence public policy at local and national levels. KC Dog will act as an intermediary between local authorities and their residents but will rely on information from its participants in order to do this as effectively as possible.
Join KC Dog today by completing this online form
or contact Laura Vallance, Public Affairs Assistant on 020 7518 1020 email: laura.vallance@thekennelclub.org.uk.
The below files take a while to download so you may wish to contact Laura Vallance to get a copy posted to you instead.
Open for DogsThe Kennel Club campaign to break down barriers for dog owners
Ever tried to take your dog for a walk to pick up some essentials from the shops, only to be faced by the problem of not being allowed to take your dog in?
Restrictions for dog owners on where they can take their dog seem to be an ever increasing daily dilemma, which is why the Kennel Club is launching its ‘OPEN FOR DOGS’ sticker campaign, to encourage more businesses to accept dogs. Click on the logo above for more information and to request an 'Open for Dogs' sticker.
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