Only 2% of 11,000 dog attacks result in prosecution

Since 2017, a successful prosecution, new figures have been shown as a result of only 236 of the over 11,000 dog attacks investigated by the councils in Northern Ireland.

Dog owners can be fined up to £ 5,000 or if they are found guilty for crime, they can be sent to jail.

The Council Dog Warden has the responsibility of investigating attacks, seizing suspected dangerous dogs and issuing penalty notices.

The campaigners have said that to allow the attacks to investigate and, if necessary, were taken to court.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said in a statement that the dog control law has been continuously amended to provide wide powers to the councils to investigate and prosecute attacks by dogs on individuals, other animals and livestock “.

“A constrained assembly mandate has already been determined beyond the additional law, unfortunately interrupted,” said this.

Deadre McCani was a victim of a dog attack in May when his dog was killed.

She was going back to her northern Belfast’s house with her six -year -old Chihuahua, when Chika was caught and taken out of her exploitation by two unattractive, aggressive dogs.

“It was something out of a horror film,” she told BBC News NI.

“They were just shaking her as if she was a toy, and she was screaming all the time.”

Neighbors made their way on the road, which wanders dogs for a long time to catch Chika to Ms. McCanoni.

They approached the weights, but Chika’s injuries were very serious despite their best efforts.

“His body was torn very badly by dogs … I had to take a decision and the poor Chika was passed by herself to the operating table,” said Ms. McCanni.

Ms. McKeni approached the police with fear that the dogs would attack again, but it was reported that it fell under the remit of the Dog Warden of Belfast City Council.

“People would say that it is just a dog, but it was not just a dog she was my pissed girl,” she said.

“He was my family honestly, we were everywhere for six and a half years.

“I am just lost without her because she was such a good girl and she was not worth dying like this.”

Ms. McCeni was visited by the warden two days after the attack on 1 June – and a control order on dogs.

He claimed that he was told that there was “very little” that could be done within the current law.

A spokesperson of the Belfast City Council told BBC News Ni that the council was aware of a attack in Somarton Garden in May 2025.

“The investigation is still alive and therefore, we cannot make any further comment at the moment,” he said.

But Ms. McKeni said that it was not quite good.

“From my experience and through it, below is really out of my world,” he said.

“I am living in hell that this law is currently – honestly it is just madness.

“It does not fit at all for the purpose.

“There are lots of results from the end of Chika, while the owner’s end to normal as just as trading, there are no results.”

Dog attacks are laws The Dogs (Ni) Order 1983 And the main enforcement responsibility is with the councils.

He says An attack does not need to be physical to be a crimeRather, if a dog is working in this way, then one person may be afraid of attacking.

If the behavior is found to be aggressive or threatening to a person, the dog owner can be fined up to £ 5,000 and sentenced to jail for six months.

If a person is injured, the jail sentence may be up to two years.

A fine of up to 1,000 can be issued if a person’s pet is injured or livestock is worried by an aggressive dog.

If the Act is deliberately considered, the fine can increase to £ 2,500.

The law is different from England and Wales, Where owners can get an unlimited fine and jail sentenceWhich can be up to 14 years if a dog is allowed to kill someone.

Heather Wear, Chief Executive Officer of the Akshar Society, prevented animals for prevention of cruelty, there were several reasons that the petitioners of the dog attack were not successful.

These do not want to take further action from the victims or pet owners, to the law being interpreted by various agencies due to the nature of the case-by-case of investigation.

He said, “Northern Ireland does not have a similarity in the context of penalty, sentences and restrictions,” he said.

There is also a shortage of funds for animal welfare in northern Ireland, Ms. Veer said, which obstructs the councils and police in her investigation.

Charity stated that promoting the responsible dog ownership will help reduce, and in many cases, dog attacks will be stopped in the first place.

This includes proper training, identifying problematic behavior, publicly identifying dogs and microchipping pets.

“You will often hear us saying that it is not a dog. It is the owner,” said Ms. Veer.

“There is a lot of responsibility on the owners to take care of their animals … but also to be responsible if they notice that their dog is demonstrating aggressive behavior.

“If the responsible owners are doing all those things … then there should not be so many dog ​​attacks.”