What is the Taking The Lead campaign about?

Taking The Lead is a campaign which aims to reduce the number of dog bite incidents in Merseyside. 

It promotes responsible dog ownership and safe behaviour from people around dogs by highlighting the practical steps we can all take to keep everyone (including dogs) safe and looked after.

In Merseyside the police deal with around 1,000 dog bite incidents every year. In the UK almost 9,000 people annually are admitted to hospitals with dog bite injuries -  an increase of 33 per cent in ten years.

The rise in dog ownership has led to many more new, inexperienced owners and also a trend in buying certain breeds. There are now estimated to be more than 10 million dogs in the UK - 10 per cent more than five years ago.

The law makes it illegal for a dog owner to allow their pet to be out of control in a public or private place if doing so causes other people to feel scared or that their safety is at risk.

Taking the Lead has been developed by Merseyside Police in partnership with the Merseyside Dog Safety Partnership, a group of experts in dog bite prevention who use police, hospital and academic data and research to identify how and why incidents occur and provide advice to people who own or look after a dog.

Our campaign will run throughout the summer holidays when the number of dog bite incidents rise as more people and dogs interact in local outdoor places like parks and beaches, as well instead the home.

 

Click on the images below to read more information about your dog and a new baby and child safety around dogs.