Dangerous Dogs, Dangerous Owners and the Waste Management of an ‘Irredeemable Species’

Abstract

Within sociology a burgeoning literature on class identities and politics has developed during the past 20 years. One area of analysis which has yet to be fully investigated concerns the ways class politics are imbued within debates about human–animal relations. Focusing on the case study of dangerous dog legislation in England and Wales, this article develops the literature on class to locate the ways political framings and legislative responses to the issue of dangerous dogs have been enacted. Analyzing historical accounts of responses to rabies and hydrophobia in dogs and humans, through to contemporary debates about the biological dangerousness of certain dog breeds, the article discusses the sociological implications of these class constructions within the establishment of dangerous dog legislation and associated social control powers.