Byline: by Katie Grant
ALTHOUGH dogs are only really interested in their dinner, unmentionable bits of their anatomy and the contents of rubbish bins, they should be gratified to learn that no lesser person than Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is now on their tails.
After all the bureaucratic paraphernalia that Holyrood requires, the dog Anti-Social Behaviour Order, or Dog Asbo, has come into force this week. In brief, this means a loophole has been closed and from now on all Scotland's dogs, not just the breeds outlined in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, must mind their manners at all times.
Mr MacAskill is commendably clear. For the dog owner, the consequences of Rover behaving in a dangerous manner are a fine plus compulsory attendance at doggy training school. The consequences for Rover himself are rather more radical: life on a lead or castration.
Since, as the old adage has it, there are no bad dogs, only bad owners, I feel the last of these punishments is misdirected. That's not my only thought, however, as I gather up the poop-scoop, the biogderadable plastic bags, the dog leads, the house keys, my gum-boots, scarf, coat and gloves - all the equipment needed for a simple walk in the park.
Given that I'm likely to meet quite a number of people on my walk, and given that quite a number of these may be rampantly litigious, what happens if my 'high spirits' is somebody else's Asbo territory? I stare at my two Jack Russell terriers. They stare back. In 2006-07, a total of 623 offences was recorded by the police under Sections 3 and 4 of the Dangerous Dogs Act, and in 2007-08 the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority awarded [pounds sterling]237,274 to those suffering dog bites.
My dogs don't bite, but I suddenly find myself asking the unaskable question: with all the manifest inconveniences of keeping dogs in the town, and now with the Asbo the perfect weapon of revenge, not just for the genuinely attacked but also for those whose white trousers are irresistible to dirty paws, why do any of us town dwellers keep dogs at all? There are obvious answers. People may keep dogs for companionship, or to teach children the value of looking after something or simply in an attempt to force themselves to take exercise.
But let's be realistic - dogs in cities are a painful pleasure.
A lady I know keeps a whippet in a third-floor flat. The dog is beautifully looked after, but crikey, it really must be a fulltime job.
Then there are the dog owners dragged through the park by large, slobbery creatures better suited to the African plain, to say nothing of the quantities of sheepless sheepdogs whose energy levels are never dented.
I feel for these dogs, as I feel for those huge monsters which people insist on keeping in tiny flats for reasons incomprehensible to anybody who actually cares about animals.
Yet although all urban dogs are time-consuming, expensive, inconvenient and now a red rag to the litigious, you can bet that when most old dogs die, new ones take their place. Dog owners are gluttons for punishment.
And I suppose I must be, too. It's true that my dogs are not demanding and have the run of the garden at all times. But they must still go out regularly, whatever else is happening, while their city-bred habit of hoovering up discarded burgers, curries and - a particular delight - soggy chips, makes me shriek with horror and threaten all manner of sanctions.
Naturally, I have added the Asbo - although, both animals being bitches, the threat of castration is less powerful than it might be. Looked at objectively, however, my completely urban existence is ridiculously circumscribed by two hairy creatures whose main role in life is just to be two hairy creatures. And I wonder.
THE new Asbo threat notwithstanding, even if I'm scrupulous about cleaning up and have trained both dogs to be user-friendly, is it right to inflict an overcrowded urban environment on them - and them on an overcrowded urban environment? There are many Scots, particularly parents with small children, who would say no to the last question. For them, dogs - unlicensed, uncounted, unwarrantable - are a source of dirt and anxiety. Nor are these people alone. The internet plays host to many on-line debates about banning dogs in cities.
I would not go so far as a ban but I freely concede that, for many people, the disappearance of dogs from Scotland's parks and pavements would be a blessed relief.
A foreigner newly come to Glasgow told me last week that he couldn't believe how much dog mess we put up with. Another friend told me she never goes to the park because she's nervous of the sheer numbers of dogs pelting about.
What's worse, to non dog owners, we dog owners seem a prickly crew, always ready to defend our animal against a complaint, whether the complaint is justified or not. I had a small taste of this when my own dogs, who were on the lead, were attacked by a loose dog and the owner howled abuse at me.
'But this is mad!' I shouted in the end. Dogless pedestrians looked at me pityingly: urban dog owners are mad, their expressions said quite clearly, and we don't care who's right and who's wrong - just take your mad selves and your horrible mad dogs elsewhere.
The Asbo, which heralds a new regime of 'dog control notices', will certainly be grist to this mill, particularly since the definition of being 'out of control' is highly contentious.
Explanatory notes to the legislation state that a dog is out of control 'where the proper person is not keeping the dog under control effectively and consistently' and that the behaviour, or size and power, of the dog 'gives rise to alarm or apprehensiveness on the part of any person'. So I'm back staring at my dogs as they jolly along in the spring sunshine. It's a lovely day. Of course we should have dogs in cities... I think.
'Nice walk?' asks my husband when I get back. 'Lovely,' I say automatically - but, what with one thing and another, even the dogs know I'm not completely convinced.
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More than a handful: Keeping dogs well-behaved and under control is a challenge for the best of owners
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