The Minister for City Services has announced a pilot program to educate children about dog safety.
The Minister, Chris Steel said the program Living Safely with Dogs is to be taught in selected early childhood centres across the Territory next year.
“Young children are the mostly likely group in the community to be the victim of a dog attack and this program is targeted at reducing the risk of bites in this age group,” Mr Steel said.
He said 50 childcare centres had enrolled to take part in the pilot program.
“The Living Safely with Dogs program is designed to prevent bites by giving children the skills and knowledge they need to safely engage with dogs,” Mr Steel said.
He said the program’s lessons involved a fully trained pet educator and their suitability-tested dog visiting early childhood centres and engaging with children to teach them how to live safely with dogs.
He said the program had been successfully delivered in Victoria and NSW.
“It identifies a range of at risk behaviours and helps children understand when dogs should be left alone; things we should not do to dogs; how to tell if a dog is happy, frightened or angry; a safe way to approach and greet a dog; and what to do if approached by an unknown or aggressive dog,” Mr Steel said.
“Most dog attacks involving children take place in the home environment with a dog known to them and the program will support parents to be responsible pet owners, including expecting parents,” he said.
Mr Steel said an awareness program was also being targeted at prenatal centres to assist expectant and new parents.
