Parents of Dundee dog attack girl: insurance not the answer

THE PARENTS of a Dundee girl killed by rottweilers said yesterday that proposed legislation to make owners insure their dogs would have little impact on the real issue of reducing attacks.

The UK Government has proposed forcing every dog owner south of the border to take out third party insurance and have their dog microchipped.

But Veronica and John Lynch said that negligent dog owners would avoid paying the proposed cover and instead it would be left to those who are responsible with their pets to pay the insurance.

Their 11-year-old daughter Kellie died in 1989 when she was attacked while on holiday with a friend in Dunoon, Argyll.

The two young girls had been walking the rottweilers when they turned on Kellie and launched their fatal attack.

“People who own more aggressive breeds such as pitbulls, or illegal dogs, won’t be the ones who will end up paying the insurance,” John Lynch said from his Dundee home yesterday.

“It’ll be the genuine people who will end up paying the insurance. Instead of insurance, why don’t they bring back the dog licence?

“The proposals, if they are put in place, will target the majority and the minority, who should pay, won’t be the ones handing over money.

““It’s like car insurance and people who try to dodge paying that.”