Exploring Public Knowledge of Dog Law in the UK: Evidence of Poor Legal Knowledge in a Nationally Representative Sample

Abstract

Dogs' societal roles have shifted globally. In private spheres, dogs are increasingly regarded as family and granted legal protections, but in public, they are framed as dangerous and subjected to increased legal restrictions. Changing perceptions of dogs and differences in the law's beneficiaries may influence how people develop legal knowledge. Where enforcement is limited or challenging, legal knowledge becomes an important component of the law's capacity to shape behaviour. Using the United Kingdom (UK) as a case study, we examined people's knowledge of 22 laws, divided between UK-wide current laws, nation-specific laws, and plausible hypothetical laws representing high-priority issues. We conducted a nationally representative survey with 1758 participants, split equally across the four UK nations. We first conducted exploratory model-building to identify variables associated with knowledge and then analysed these variables using multinomial models. Accurate legal knowledge among the UK public was limited, with participants frequently overestimating the existence of laws that prioritise dogs and their owners. Dog owners responded with greater certainty but not greater accuracy than non-dog owners. Older participants were more accurate overall, while responses to hypothetical laws suggested generational differences in views on animal welfare. These findings suggest gaps between the law in reality and what people assume the law to be.