Petition Reintroduce dog licences and control barking.

A request to the Secretary of State to reintroduce dog licences as a means to encourage responsible dog ownership and a request to make the owners of dogs that bark excessively within earshot of a member of the public criminally liable for a breach of the peace.

I would like to see a whole-life dog licence costing about £300 per animal, of which £200 would constitute a voucher to pay for professional training by a Kennel Club registered dog trainer. If an adult dog was adopted from an animal shelter and found to be already trained to an acceptable standard, a reduced-rate licence should be available.

If dogs cause a nuisance by barking, the person responsible should act immediately to quieten the animals and failure to do so should constitute a breach of the peace. In the first instance the penalty should be an £80 anti-social behaviour fixed-penalty ticket.