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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
John Stevens

Keir Starmer backs Mirror campaign to stamp out sale of illegal dog breeds online

Labour leader Keir Starmer has vowed to stamp out the sale of illegal dog breeds.

He has backed our campaign on dangerous dogs and vowed to look at how the Dangerous Dogs Act can be toughened if he gets into No10.

He wants ministers to act now to prevent further serious attacks.

Mr Starmer said: “There can be no argument from the Government that change shouldn’t be made straight away. It’s a really serious issue.”

He said laws must be tightened to ensure illegal breeds are not being sold online.

Mr Starmer added: “The Government has to roll up its sleeves and do something about it.

Dangerous dogs can be bought online (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“We’ve got the Online Safety Bill [currently making its way through Parliament], it’s easy to do this.”

Emma ­Whitfield, whose 10-year-old son Jack Lis was mauled to death by a 7st XL bully dog, has joined forces with the Mirror to try to force a law change to avert more fatalities.

Jack was killed by the animal at a pal’s home in Caerphilly 18 months ago. Since then, 15 others have died in dog attacks. The Government says it is reviewing the regulations for licensed dog breeders and pet sellers, but has made no firm commitments.

It has established a working group with police, local authorities and animal welfare experts to consider ways to reduce dog attacks.

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