I am a dog behaviourist of 30 years experience and court Expert Witness for DDA (Dangerous Dogs Act) cases. Fatal and serious attacks by dogs are rare and terrible, but unless the dogs are assessed whilst still alive, the triggers and background that cause the attacks are not identified.  I have pleaded with 3 governments to insist dogs are fully tested first and been told by MP's and DEFRA that "nothing can be gained" by testing and "coroners have identified aggravating factors".  This is not an acceptable way of finding out why some dogs attack.

There is a lot of advice available on child and dog safety, but nothing based on the actual cases. Nothing that identifies the common denominators, behaviour precursors or breeding/training that cause these tragedies. To protect the public, to create meaningful statistics and reports, I believe dogs need live assessments and not the guessing games currently played.

Many of my professional colleagues feel the same as do some Police and dog owners.  I ask you to support this petition to move towards protecting dogs and people in the future.

Thank you
Debbie Connolly