146 J Maher et al continues to be, a complex minefield, argued by many to be making the biggest contribution to the perpetuation of the problem Legislative Responses A myriad of laws have been passed in the UK in relation to dogs, beginning with, in the context of this chapter, the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 which prohibited dog fighting, and the 1839 Metropolitan Police Act, which lists an offence as ‘to be at large any unmuzzled ferocious Dog, or set on or urge any Dog or other Animal to Attack, worry, or put in fear any Person, Horse, or other Animal’ Subsequent Acts have sought to improve standards of welfare and also the civil right of redress for a dog attack, but it was only in 1991 when dog fighting and dog attacks were deemed to be resolvable through BSL Having initially declared such measures as ‘manifest nonsense’ (Home Office Minister Douglas Hogg MP, HC Deb 15 June 1989, c1187), the UK Government fast-tracked the DDA 1991 (Hallsworth 2011), an imported version of a US intervention which involved state-level measures designed to eradicate dogs of a certain breed, those deemed intrinsically dangerous, disregarding all other factors (possibly excusable within the context of what was known about dog behaviour 25 years ago, but now wholly without foundation) Whilst the international trend is now to repeal BSL (Bradley 2014, p 13 and HSUS 2015), the UK does not look likely to follow—recent consultation exercises and developments which resulted in an expansion of offences to cover private property, amongst other things, omitted future scenarios where BSL could be repealed Public debates thus far have been remiss in acknowledging the augmenting role BSL may have had on some breeds appearing more attractive to would-be owners looking for conferred status The evidence on BSL strongly favours its abolition Initial assessments of the DDA 1991 by Klaassen et al (1996) determined there had been no significant reduction in dog bites, with ‘dangerous’ breeds contributing to only a small number By retaining and even solidifying BSL on the UK statute books,11 the government ignores the contribution this has made to the status dog problem, while also causing hysteria and myth-making 11 The Dangerous Dogs Exemption Schemes [England and Wales] Order 2015 which came into force 3rd March 2015 closes the loophole for the transfer of ownership of a s1 prohibited dog See https:// www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-dangerous-dogs-exemption-schemes-order-2015