Overheard a conversation this morning saying it is now illegal to have more than 3 dogs out together and not off lead, also if a dog attacks another dog the owner can be prosecuted.
Have these updates been made to the dangerous dogs act or anyother for that matter , are these local rules if so where would they be shown ?
Have there been any major changes ?

Load of rubbish unless the local council has passed some byelaws limiting number of dogs being walked together.

Dog to dog attacks are still in a legal twilight - they fall under the 1871 act but most police have never heard of it and it's a civil action. The DDA doesn't cover it at all.

Contact your local council for clarification - but my bet is they will know less about it than you ;)

We (in Leeds) now have a by-law, I think it's no more than 4 dogs on or off lead per person.  This has mainly been introduced because of the 'professional' dog walkers we have around here.  Apparently there is some law about one dog attacking another dog too, don't know the details, but my dog was seriously attacked last year and I reported it to the dog warden who said it was a shame it hadn't happened a month later because then she would have had the power to do something about it.  Again probably a local thing. 

> are these local rules if so where would they be shown ?

The people you overheard could just be misinformed but some of what you mention (number of dogs and dogs on leads) can be covered under Dog Control orders which are introduced and enforced by Local Authorities.  Many councils have recently, or are in the process of, updating their out of date bylaws using DCO's and they MUST consult before imposing them.

If you wish to research DCO's in your areas just try googling your local authority or council name and the phrase Dog Control Orders to get to the right pages.  Some councils are better organised than others with good information, clear lists and maps where DCO's are applicable.

Additionally here are the KC pages:  KC Dog and Access,  latest list of consultations. 

Glad I am not where you are as I walk all mine together on lead, and that is up to 6 dogs. 

With head-collars, on lead I am perfectly able to control them, especially as half of them are likely to be veterans.

On the other hand when I used to take my friends Dobes out, even with head-collars I would not have taken out more than two together.  I am pretty sure that I could cope with more than 6 Chi's on a lead at once, though I might step on them.

These kind of one size rules are a real pain, and I prey they don't bring them in in Bristol.  I could live with the no more than four off lead at a time, though I did at one time walk five off lead, but three of those are at Rainbow Bridge now, and I wouldn't let all the current five off together.

CVL It looks as if you have further legislation coming your way in Leeds.  One extract:   "dogs should be on a lead at all times. It is proposed that this Order be applied to all carriageways and adjacent footpaths and grass verges within the Leeds City Council district to ensure that any dog is kept under control at all times and minimise the risk of accidents. It is also proposed that this Order be applied to cemeteries and crematoria."

Although this latest amendment looks pretty sensible it's strange that they didn't think to include it in the previous orders that were brought into effect in February 2011.  The consultation on the new legislation is open until 14th October so you are still in time to add your views if you wish.

It certainly looks as if the inital DCO's were well received by residents and the LA is looking to extend them.  I've looked a few Local Authorities recently and Leeds appear to have adopted as much of the new power as they can!!

> "dogs should be on a lead at all times. It is proposed that this Order be applied to all carriageways and adjacent footpaths and grass verges

I assumed thsi was the law anyway under the road traffic Act, though the cemetraies bit is extra.  Unfortuantely I have had the embarrasment of my dogs getting into two cemetries from the adjoining parks as there was little or no barrier (very gappy hedge in places nothing)!

> I assumed thsi was the law anyway under the road traffic Act, though the cemetraies bit is extra

The requirement to have dogs on a lead is in the Road Traffic Act but only on designated roads, which have to be designated by the Local Authority and many aren't (or weren't until they started to use the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 to implement Dog Control Orders).  Urban areas have always had tighter controls for dogs but even these were often local authority by-laws which have since been replaced by dog control orders.  You can always double check maps and exclusions and Bristol is quite up to date since their new DCO's were introduced back in Aug 2007.

Thanks, I added my views a while ago. It's funny, dog owners seem outraged by all this ( locally) but I welcome it. I see a lot of dogs walked off lead on pavements near busy roads (in fact a dog has dodged traffic to cross the road to mouth off at mine) so I'm happy they're taking the extra steps, but weird they didn't do it at the same time. The dog warden has, so far, been effective in enforcing the max number of dog law in the parks which makes walking much more pleasant :-)

CVL you are lucky to have a dog warden we have no one where we live

We are lucky, and they're pretty good when it comes to local parks etc... they're just a bit useless when it comes to stray dogs!