Why are dog attacks on the rise?
Last year saw the highest number of fatal dog attacks on record, with hospitals dealing with nearly 9000 cases of dog bites last year - up 18% on the year before.
Dr Scott is here with his thoughts on why we are seeing a rise in incidents. Plus, he’ll be revealing how to spot signs that your dog is beginning to show aggressive behaviour.
According to the BBC, 11% of households took in new animals during the lockdowns, with dogs and cats remaining the firm favourites. Asked whether he thought lockdown had played a part in dog aggression, Dr Scott said: 'There wasn't the behaviourists to speak to, you couldn't go in as much to see your vet, dogs were not being able to be as social with each other and neither were we so we did have a lot of antisocial behaviours that came out of that.'
He added: 'Choose animals wisely, don't bring a dog into your life because you think it looks good. Instead we need to focus on responsible pet ownership. Exercise and good training a lot of the time will mean that your dog is well socialised with people and with other dogs, and aggressive tendencies are far less.'