THE Scottish Government has been urged to bring in a mandatory dog licence scheme in a bid to tackle unethical breeding.

A debate will be held on how this issue and incidents of “aggressive canine behaviour” can be tackled at Thursday’s full council meeting.

Councillors Andy Doig and John Hood have brought forward a motion on the topic in light of the Prime Minister’s announcement that the American Bully XL will be banned following a spate of recent attacks.

The independent duo, who both represent parts of Johnstone, believe the devolved administration should amend the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 to reintroduce a licence scheme.

Despite recognising the “overwhelming positive impact” of responsible ownership in the motion, they believe a licence – administered at local authority level – would support improved dog welfare and training, and prevent unethical breeding.

Councillor Doig said: “Obviously there is much public concern at the moment about some very serious attacks on children involving the American XL Bully dog.

“But we need to always remember that, while some breeds are more predisposed to aggression, many breeds can be badly behaved.

“Training and support are the antidotes to this and that is why we need a new mandatory dog licence scheme.

“We need the Scottish Government to introduce amendments to the Control of Dogs Act (Scotland) 2010 to provide a new framework of support for all dog owners, in the shape of a new mandatory dog licence.

“But unlike the old licence which was a UK-wide scheme, the new one needs to be local authority administered to respond better to the local needs of dog owners.

“There are excellent models in other countries like Germany, where the dog licence scheme is mandatory and is administered by local government.

“German local authorities use the revenue raised to employ more dog wardens, increase dog waste bins, and run more council-sponsored dog training classes.

“We need to cut down on bad ownership and lack of training here too by doing the same.”

Councillor Hood added: “Well-behaved dogs can bring so much to the lives of individuals, families, and indeed communities.

“The vast majority of dog owners are decent and responsible people, but more has to be done to stop unethical breeding which leads to a proliferation of aggressive dogs like the XL Bully, and a new mandatory, effective, dog licence scheme would do that.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “There are robust regulations in place for the control of dogs and further measures such as the registration for unlicensed breeders are being considered in the Welfare of Dogs Bill currently being considered by parliament.

“We will always consider carefully any evidence based suggestions to help improve safety for people including keeping the control of dogs legislation under review.”