The Government maintains that the prohibition on the four types of fighting dogs under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 should remain in place. 

The Government is determined to crack down on irresponsible dog ownership and encourages police forces across the country to use the tools at their disposal to address this problem. 

There are no proposals to re-introduce the dog licence. The previous licensing scheme for dogs was ceased in 1988 because it was estimated that only around 40 percent of owners were compliant. This is similar to compliance levels in countries that still operate a dog licensing scheme. 

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 states that no person shall give away, breed or breed from, sell, or exchange a prohibited dog. The four types of dog, pit bull terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro are prohibited because they are bred for fighting. While any dog is capable of causing harm to a person, the available evidence shows that prohibited type dogs are involved in a disproportionately high number of attacks on people, including fatalities. 

It is important to note that not all banned dogs are destroyed. The law allows a person to keep an individual dog where a court has considered that it does not present a danger to public safety. The dog is then placed on an index of exempted dogs. There are currently around 3,000 dogs where a court has granted an exemption and allowed them to stay with their owner. 

The Act also makes it an offence to allow a dog of any breed or type to become dangerously out of control in any place. The maximum penalty for this offence is fourteen years imprisonment, where the offence has led to a death and five years imprisonment where someone is injured.