TEEN gang members are increasingly keeping dogs as 'status symbols' and using them to intimidate shoppers across Hounslow.
Youths are buying rottweilers and Staffordshire bull terriers and training them to 'growl and look aggressive', the council's principal animal control officer Tony Bull told the Chronicle.
His comments come after a number of readers contacted the paper in recent weeks to complain about irresponsible dog owners across the borough.
One reader, who asked not be named, said people were afraid to leave their homes at Renaissance Court, in Prince Regent Road, Hounslow, because of aggressive dogs being kept there.
They described how just last month a visiting dog had been bitten on the back as two couples with young children tried to leave the tower block.
“I urge you to address this situation before an adult or, worse still, one of the many children living here are maimed or killed,” they added.
Yvonne Schoffham, of Bath Road, Hounslow, said her partner had been attacked in Hounslow High Street earlier this summer, a few weeks before a woman was set upon near Starbucks.
“I am disabled and go to the High Street most days to shop but I am thinking of taking my business elsewhere,” she wrote. "Why aren't these people told by police to stay away or leave their dogs at home?”
Helen Carpenter was walking her puppy Alfie through Osterley Park last month when the labrador was set upon and badly injured by a Staff.
“Luckily the owner of the other dog was able to drag him away but I was very traumatised and couldn't sleep for days afterwards,” said the 42-year-old housewife, of Osterley Avenue, Isleworth. Dangerous dogs like that should be kept on a lead or muzzled at all times.”
Last year, the Chronicle reported how cruel dog owners were grooming their pets for illegal fights at St Paul's Recreation Ground in Brentford.
In April, the owner of a rottweiler which attacked and killed a Jack Russell in Isleworth was slapped with a dog control order.
And just last month, 20-year-old Andre Douglas, of Charter Crescent, Hounslow, was fined £100 for owning a dangerous dog, following a London-wide crackdown on gangs.
However, Mr Bull said that although concerns about dangerous dogs appeared to be on the rise, reports of attacks and aggressive behaviour had fallen dramatically from 49 in 2007/8 to just 19 last year.
“There does appear to be an element of younger people keeping breeds like Staffs as status symbols and training them to growl and look mean,” he added.“We've also received anecdotal reports about dog fighting and seen some strays with injuries that could have resulted from that, but there's not much in the way of evidence.
“Although Staffs can look intimidating they are no more dangerous than other breeds unless they have been neglected or trained to be aggressive by their owners.”
