They can help the disabled and give comfort to the lonely. In the right environment and with the right care and discipline they can be true assets.

But the wrong dog with the wrong owner can be as lethal a weapon as a knife or a gun. But dogs are not as strictly regulated as weapons.

There is the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act – but it does not sufficiently protect those attacked on private property.

So it is welcome news that Wakefield MP Mary Creagh is to back a private bill to close that loophole.

In Yorkshire we know only too well the horror that can ensue when dangerous dogs attack.

Last year, 13-month-old Archie-Lee Hirst was snatched from the arms of his young aunt and mauled to death by a rottweiler in Wakefield.

Yet earlier this year, the government rejected calls to strengthen the law on dangerous dogs, publishing an information leaflet for owners instead.

We are told Mary Creagh's bill stands no chance of becoming law – but if it gains support and puts pressure on the government to protect us from these dangerous animals, then it is a bill worth supporting.


Fair shares

A Leeds car-sharing club is celebrating its fourth anniversary.

The WhizzGo club has increased its membership by almost 20 per cent in recent months and now has more than 1,100 members, making it the biggest car club of its kind in the North of England.

People pay by the hour for the use of one of its low-emission vehicles, helping them to both cut their own motoring bills and to help the environment by reducing the number of cars on the road.

Enterprising schemes such as this always face an uncertain future when they are launched. It is good news for the company and good news for the rest of us that this one is thriving.


Give him space

Most of us will have gone through our roller skating years as children –and quickly grown out of them.

But not 24-year-old John Kirkham.The former Leeds University student has not stopped skating since he was 11 and today he holds several classes in Leeds city centre.

But John is facing an accommodation crisis because the rates have trebled at one of the venues where he teaches.

He is now desperately on the look out for an alternative space to hold his skating events and, since skating is both fun and good exercise, we hope he finds one soon.