(1)  A person who has care or charge of a dog is guilty of a crime if –

(a) the dog is a dangerous dog or a restricted breed dog; and

(b) the dog attacks and kills, or causes grievous bodily harm to, another person; and

(c) the person with care or charge of the dog knew, or ought to have known, the dog is a dangerous dog or a restricted breed dog; and

(d) at the time of the attack, the person with care or charge of the dog failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the dog was under appropriate control; and

(e) the person knew, or ought to have known, that a failure to keep the dog under appropriate control could expose any person to a risk of death or grievous bodily harm.

Charge:  Causing death or grievous bodily harm by dangerous dog or restricted breed dog.

(2)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , a dog is under appropriate control if the person with care or charge of the dog complies with section 32 of the Dog Control Act 2000 in respect of the dog.

(3)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , a person is taken to have care or charge of a dog if, at the relevant time, the person –

(a) is the owner of the dog; or

(b) has control, possession or custody of the dog; or

(c) is the operator or manager of the premises where the dog is held for commercial purposes.

(4)  One or more persons may have care or charge of a dog at any one time.

(5)  In this section –

attack has the same meaning as in the Dog Control Act 2000 ;

dangerous dog means a dog that has been declared to be a dangerous dog under section 29(1)(a) of the Dog Control Act 2000 due to the dog causing, or there being reasonable cause to believe that the dog is likely to cause, serious injury to a person;

restricted breed dog has the same meaning as in the Dog Control Act 2000 .