Owners of dogs that cause serious injury face fines of up to $15,000 or a year in prison under tough laws that sailed through the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
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Territory and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury said the changes would separate penalties contained in a 2000 territory law for owners of dogs that harass and those that cause serious injury.
The new penalties for dangerous dogs are equivalent to those for some categories of criminal assault.
"Under previous legislation, the maximum penalties for a dog harassment incident and an attack incident were the same at $7500," Mr Rattenbury said.
"This means a person whose dog barks at and scares another person or animal – a harass incident – could receive the same fine as a person whose dog viciously mauls a person or animal."
The new legislation creates a scheme of escalating penalties, with fines appropriate to the degree of injury caused to a person or animal.
Owners of dogs responsible for minor attack offences will continue to face fines of $7500.
Mr Rattenbury said Canberra had an average of 260 dog attack or harassment incidents each year, with many resulting in serious stress or physical harm to people and animals.
"Some jurisdictions have introduced breed-specific legislation in an attempt to avoid dog attacks; however there is strong evidence against this approach.
"The ACT government's position instead identifies specific individual dogs that have already exhibited signs of aggression and identifies them as dangerous dogs, rather than targeting individual breeds."
The maximum penalty can only be imposed by a territory court and Thursday's changes to legislation will not be applied retrospectively.
The law holds owners responsible for poorly maintained fencing and requires some dogs to be destroyed unless a court is satisfied there are special circumstances that justify not doing so.
"The changes will more clearly define the level of severity between serious dog attack and minor attack and harass incidents," Mr Rattenbury said.
"The ACT government is committed to promoting responsible pet ownership and it is important for dog owners to understand that there are serious ramifications if their dog attacks or harasses another person or animal."
