Posição da Federação Veterinária Europeia sobre Câes Perigosos

[PauloC]

FVE POSITION ON DANGEROUS DOGS

Background
Over the last few decades the ownership of dogs primarily as companion animals has
increased in the urban population, with benefits for the individual and the community. But,
inevitably, it has also had some drawbacks.
Dog bite injuries have recently received increased publicity. Serious incidents involving
dangerous dogs in several Member States have sparked fierce reactions and have led some
Member States to call for a Community initiative to address this problem. This should
however be seen in the context that the majority of dogs never bite anyone.
Dog bite injuries may be caused by various factors such as uncontrolled playing behaviour,
lack of training, fear, pain, inappropriate offensive or defensive reactions. Sometimes dogs
are also used as a weapon by criminals or are kept for fighting purposes.
To attempt to control these negative aspects of the dog-human interaction different countries
have implemented various legislative measures. These measures can be divided into two
categories. The first addressing the behaviour of the individual dog and the second
addressing the behaviour of certain breeds or breed types.

Current situation
· Although some countries have adopted breed-specific measures, there is no
scientific or statistic evidence to suggest that these effectively reduce the frequency
or severity of injuries to people.
· To date, no scientific criteria have been identified by which it can be determined
that a dog is dangerous by simply describing its racial or other physical parameters.
· Breed-specific legislation has been shown to be difficult to apply due to the problem
of defining breeds and breed types. This has been a major source of controversy.
· Breed-specific legislation engenders a false and dangerous perception that breeds
not included will not show aggression. Aggression is a normal behaviour and can be
shown by any dog of any breed, type or mixed breeding.
· Breed-specific legislation does not discriminate between individual members of a
breed, many of which may not be predisposed to aggressive behaviour. Rather, all
dogs of a specific breed, whatever their behaviour, are subject to the same
restrictions.

Way Forward
FVE strongly believes that the most effective means of preventing and controlling
aggression is to direct measures at the individual dog and its owner.
In particular, since part of the problem originates from the criminal use of dogs by well
known individuals, measures to control this should be taken directly towards them.
However because of the lack of reliable scientific data, it is proposed that further research is
conducted with the aim of developing tools which will allow a proper risk analysis of the
aggressive behaviour of individual dogs.
a) Education
· Education of owners and of dogs will lead to a more responsible attitude to
ownership and decrease the risk to the public. There is a variety of opinion relating
to the education of dogs and owners and this area requires further development.
b) Identification
· Effective measures will require mandatory identification of all dogs in the European
Community. This is the only way to link an individual dog involved in an
aggressive incident with the person legally responsible for that animal, to collect
and exchange data and to do epidemiological and statistical research.
· A central database in every EU member state to collect data on dogs involved in
aggressive incidents will also be required.
c) Research programmes
· Preliminary results in the fields of behaviour, genetics, neuro-psychology and
physiology suggest that scientific protocols can be developed to address the issues
of breeding, individual assessment and education.
· Comprehensive surveys on dog bites are required both to provide background
information and to allow for the monitoring of the efficacy of any control measures.
d) Testing programmes
· There is some evidence that aggressive behaviour has an inherited component. Thus
it is important to determine the genes involved and to develop controlled and
responsible breeding programmes, supported by simple testing procedures.
· Behaviour is also influenced by the environment, in which the animal develops and
lives. Thus, the testing of the individual dog's predisposition to show aggression can
allow owners to take appropriate steps to prevent any incidents. Such testing
procedures are still in their infancy and require further development. Existing
procedures, though scientifically validated, are to be extended so that it becomes
feasible to apply them on a large scale.

Recommendations
FVE urges the European Commission and Member States to:
1. Promote education and training of dogs, dog owners and dog professionals such as
veterinarians and trainers.
2. Postpone the adoption of further breed-specific legislation until a proper risk analysis
has been carried out.
3. Introduce a mandatory identification for all dogs, which is compatible across the
European Union.
4. Encourage research, through the 5th Framework Research Program for example, in such
fields as:
· dog behaviour and its genetical, neuro-physiological and ethological background,
· dog bites monitoring,
· education and training of dogs, dog owners and dog professionals such as
veterinarians and trainers.

President
Dr K. Simon
Vice-Presidents
Dr O. Bro-Jorgensen
Dr C. Mir
Dr A. W Udo
Dr R. Zilli
Members
Austria; Belgium; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; FYROM; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; United Kingdom; Yugoslavia

Federation of Veterinarians of Europe
rue Defacqz, 1
B – 1000 Brussels
Tel: +32.2.538.29.63 - Fax: +32.2.537.28.28
E-mail: [email protected] - Internet: www.fve.org