THE rate of dog attacks on people has risen five-fold over the past three years.

In 2008 there were only 2.6 dog bites a month – this year there have been 12.6 a month.

The number of often gruesome attacks, many of them detailed in the Daily Echo, has led to calls for tougher legislation and penalties for owners.

A recent public meeting in Springbourne, Bournemouth, heard about police dissatisfaction with the current law.

A 10-year-old boy suffered horrific injuries in Grants Close during August but police could not prosecute because the attack started on private property.

Dog legislation officer PC Colin Spender told the meeting: “The law is an ass. But if it happens on private premises, there’s nothing we can do. Our hands are tied.”

Police statistics show there were 26 cases dogs biting humans from February to December in 2008.

Then there were 63 in 2009, then 100 in 2010, and finally 126 in 2011 by the end of October this year.

A Dorset Police spokesman said there was no explanation for the rise in reported attacks.

The Home Office introduced new recording rules in 2007 and people may be more confident about reporting attacks, said the spokesman.

Current legislation focuses on types of dogs rather than their owners.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns, who has been helping West Howe constituents after a spate of dog attacks, said: “By common consent the Dangerous Dogs Act is poorly drafted legislation.”

Cllr David Smith, cabinet member for communities, said: “I fully support the call to update legislation.

“I would like to see the introduction of compulsory micro-chipping as well as third party insurance.”

Bournemouth dog campaigner Marjorie Titchen said some dogs were left homeless during the recession and bit people out of ‘fear and hunger’.

Anne Barwick, 71, was bitten fending off a dog which attacked her sheepdog on Poole’s Branksome Rec.

She said: “The current law is not at all adequate. The police and dog warden couldn’t do anything and witnesses didn’t want to sign statements.”

The Echo has also reported residents concerns at dogs attacking other animals.

Zoe Thorner, a vet nurse From Walton Lodge Veterin-ary on North Road in Park-stone, said it had a petition calling for a review of the dog control act after seeing an increase in dog on dog attacks.

West Howe residents have also launched an e-petition calling for a parliamentary debate after single a dog savaged three cats to death in a month.

Dog control bill

A private member’s bill called the Dog Control Bill has passed through the House of Lords and is about to be debated in the House of Commons. It would make it an offence to keep a dog that has attacked a person.

However various trades union like the GMB, animal groups like the RSPCA, and professional bodies like the British Veterinary Association, are calling on the government to introduce its own bill in the Queens Speech.

The proposed bill would remove the distinction between attacks in public areas and private areas and focus on the actions of the owner, not the dog.

A bill with Government backing would make quicker progress through Parliament and would stand a better chance of making it on to the statute books.