Dangerous dogs 'trained to attack children' in London

Britain's top vet has warned that there are more pit bulls in the capital than when the animals were banned under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.

The number of dangerous dogs seized by the Met police has risen from 27 in 2004/5 to 1,152 last year. The force is so concerned that a status
dog unit has been set up to tackle the problem.

Harvey Locke, President of the British Veterinary Association, said: "There are more pit bulls around now than there ever were at the time the Act came into place. It has been described as knee-jerk legislation and it has not been effective. The problem has actually got worse and is getting worse quite rapidly now."

A documentary to be aired on More4 this weekend shows footage of pit bulls that have apparently been trained specifically to attack women and children.

One pit bull seized by police is filmed flinging itself at a woman producer from inside a steel cage with such intensity that it snaps a tooth on the metal bars.

Sergeant Ian McPartland, who heads the Met's status dog unit, said London had also seen an increase in organised dog fighting. He said: "We've got mobile phone footage of people waggling gang bandannas between dogs, saying round three, and letting the dogs go again.

"The really strange thing is that most of them really love their dogs. They're part of their family; they hold them in high regard. For a lot of them they are their only real companion whom they can rely on.

"A dog now is like your mobile phone, or your trainers. The bigger, better dog you have then the higher status you're going to have because people will be envious of one of your possessions." The More4 documentary, How To Buy A Puppy, explores best practice in dog breeding and will be broadcast after the final of Crufts, on Sunday at 9pm. It features CCTV footage of an attack by a pit bull on a guide dog, the kind of incident which police say now happens three times a month.

Professor Sheila Crispin, who chairs the new Advisory Council on the Welfare of Dogs, says: "Guide dogs are now one of the groups of dogs that are regularly attacked by dangerous dogs, which is particularly distressing.

"The people who own these dogs have a very misplaced sense of status. They use them for protection, to guard drug stashes, to actually attack other things. It's part of the fun that they get from having a nasty, vicious dog."