http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4387665/Look-at-photo-of-my-girl-and-help-make-dog-laws-tougher.html

How many of these attacks are due to insufficient supervision of children playing with dogs, one child was trying to put a toy in the dogs collar when she was bitten. Others were in other people's back gardens, why was no one watching more carefully. It is far to easy to blame the dog, but if the dog is not used to being handled by a child then maybe the dog needs protection from the child and responds in the only way it knows how. I know my remarks will cause outrage to some, and agree that dogs are only as good as their owners, however it makes me mad that one woman has said that dogs should be muzzled, perhaps but not in their own back garden surely.

> however it makes me mad that one woman has said that dogs should be muzzled

I don't think the campaign call for that though, does it?

No, it's not what they're asking for.  They're asking for the moon :)

I actually quite like the sentence that says 'every dog owner made accountable for their actions'.  I assume they mean the dogs actions? :)

But it's the same old story isn't it?  Those people who are already responsible owners will do their utmost to ensure that they continue to be responsible owners, it's those that don't care a jot who won't.  So all the licences, microchipping, a single national registration system won't change that imo.

What I don't like though is that on the one hand the 'news' paper is stating they don't want to demonise dogs, yet still show the same stock photo's that are, quite frankly, getting old now.  What I also don't like is their use of statistics.
From what I can see, the statistics available on the HES / NHS website only show figures for 1997-1998 and 2007-2008.  The overall statistics are broken down into age groups.  Those statistics account for dog bites and dog 'strikes' (i.e. if one is knocked over by a dog and bangs ones head, one might sustain concussion thereby possibly requiring hospital treatment). The term dog 'attack' is not used on the HES page.

> Those people who are already responsible owners will do their utmost to ensure that they continue to be responsible owners, it's those that don't care a jot who won't.  So all the licences, microchipping, a single national registration system won't change that imo.
>

Possibly but a mechanism to help bring these people to account should go some way towards detering this lack of responsibility.

power to issue warnings when people aren't doing the right things for and with their dog.

Well thats all crystal clear & non ambiguous.

> How many of these attacks are due to insufficient supervision of children playing with dogs

Exactly. Scrolling through the article and it's child after child with facial injuries from dogs:
common demoninators  = CHILD, FACE, DOG.

Every dog owner should be aware of the dangers of children & dogs (supervision alone is not enough if those supervising have no idea how to tell if a dog is stressed/frightened/too excited etc...).
And every parent/guardian should be aware too.

One does not need to be a car driver or like cars to know it's not safe to allow ones child to play on/near a road in just the same way as a person should not have to have canine knowledge or like/own dogs to know the potential dangers of children & dogs mixing.

..."Cut the fees for working dogs and all those that are neutered."

Why should neutered dogs recieve a reduction???

> I know my remarks will cause outrage to some

Not to me. I get sick of having to tell other peoples kids not to growl/bark at my dog, not to run at him screaming, to stop tryin gto climb on his back, to crowd around him a group with lots of squeeling, patting,pulling,poking. I should not have to be on such hihg-alert to keep everybody eleses kids safe - they should be taught this by thier parents.
Of course I ensure my dog is no danger to them, but quite frankly, it's becasue I am not prepared to have my dog destroyed for reacting to a threatening situation.

I know my remarks will cause outrage to some

Not to me.  What causes outrage to me is the number of parents who don't teach their children to respect animals and who don't really care what their kids are getting up to as long as they're not being bothered by them but who then blame the dog for biting their badly behaved, un-supervised kids.

And I know my remarks will upset some but frankly I don't mind at all