New Petitions

We move to petition PE666—I do not want people to read too much about devil dogs into that. How sad it is that I noticed that.

This petition is on dangerous drugs—

Sorry. I am getting confused. It is in the name of Mr Frank Harvey, and calls on the Scottish Parliament to take the necessary steps to protect people in Scotland from being attacked and savaged by dangerous dogs. The petitioner is concerned that despite considerable discussion on the topic among politicians, effective action to prevent the increasing number of attacks on the public by dangerous dogs has yet to be taken. The petitioner believes that all large dogs, particularly those that are bred for fighting or guard duties, should be muzzled at all times to protect the public from attack. He also argues that dog owners who fail to adhere to that should be prosecuted and have their dogs destroyed immediately after an attack.The petitioner previously submitted two other petitions on this topic—PE59 and PE219. The Executive's responses to PE59 in September 2001 and to PE219 in November 2000 explained that the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 makes it an offence for anyone in charge of a dog to allow it to be dangerously out of control in a public place. The Executive also confirmed that it considers the current legislation to be effective, and that it has no plans to introduce any new or amending legislation. Do members have any comments?

The Executive's view has been clarified absolutely in response to the two previous petitions. I do not think that there is anything to be achieved by taking the matter further. Therefore, I recommend that we do not take the petition anywhere, and that we consider the matter concluded.

There appear to be no additional views. Is that agreed?Members indicated agreement.