UK Act of Parliament 1991 c. 65 United Kingdom

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

Read the Act on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)
Enforced by
DEFRA
Status
In Force
Penalty ceiling
Imprisonment 1 of 6 obligations carry an unlimited fine. 2 carry different penalties and 3 have no criminal penalty — flagged in the list below.

Does it bind you?

Business-side roles with duties under this instrument.

Any Person3

Plus 3 duties on the regulator, Crown ministers and public bodies — folded into the section list below.

Other Acts binding the same actors

If a role above is yours, these are the other instruments that most often bind it.

Any Person — also bound by 2340 other Acts

What it requires

Sections creating concrete business duties or carrying penalties, grouped as the instrument is structured. Titles link to the source text — blue means you’re leaving for legislation.gov.uk.

s.001 Dogs bred for fighting. (opens in a new tab) Imprisonment
  • Illegal breeding, sale, or possession of fighting dogsAny Person
s.003 Keeping dogs under proper control. (opens in a new tab) Imprisonment
  • Failure to keep a dog under proper controlAny Person
s.004 Destruction and disqualification orders. (opens in a new tab) Prosecution
  • Breach a dog disqualification order or fail to surrender a dog for destructionAny Person

Unlimited fine

s.004 Contingent destruction orders. Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Courts must issue contingent destruction orders for dangerous dogsTribunal / Court
s.004 Destruction orders otherwise than on a conviction. Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Courts may order the destruction of a seized dog without a criminal convictionTribunal / Court
s.009 Expenses. (opens in a new tab) Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Government must fund expenses for Dangerous Dogs Act administrationCrown / Minister / Government department
6 other provisions — procedural and definitional
s.002 Other specially dangerous dogs. (opens in a new tab)
s.005 Seizure, entry of premises and evidence. (opens in a new tab)
s.006 Dogs owned by young persons. (opens in a new tab)
s.007 Muzzling and leads. (opens in a new tab)
s.008 Power to make corresponding provision for Northern Ireland. (opens in a new tab)
s.010 Short title, interpretation, commencement and extent. (opens in a new tab)

Duty extraction and severity labels are Guvnor’s analysis of the instrument, not the instrument itself. Always verify against the linked source text.