In his confusing letter (Dangerous: Dog or Man? June 13) Karl Flores, the secretary of the Maltese National Canine Federation, no less, made the preposterous suggestion that all dogs (except small ones) should be muzzled in public places.

His statement "the question as to what really makes a dog dangerous is still unanswered" is also wrong. In fact, Mr Flores contradicts himself in the very same letter when he goes on to say: "The blame lies in man's failure of knowledge of how to socialise or properly bring up man's best friend". This is exactly the point.

Any dog is liable to become a threat if it is abused or deliberately bred or trained to attack people or animals by its owner. Such owners often deliberately choose breeds of dogs (or cross-breeds) which are known to be inherently aggressive.

Mr Flores's comment "bad (sic) dogs are not born" is also debatable. He puts things right by contradicting himself yet again when he states: "unscrupulous breeders... deliberately or unknowingly breed unsound temperaments", thus agreeing that aggression can be in-bred.

Certain dogs were indeed originally bred for fighting. The combination of their aggressive nature and vice-like jaws makes them dangerous. The pit bull terrier is a classical example of such a dog. A dog that belongs to (or is derived from) a breed with a tendency to aggression is therefore like a loaded gun; it needs careful handling.

Many conflicting suggestions have been made in these columns. Anecdotal stories and emotion confused the issue. There will always be irresponsible individuals who prefer to have a fierce dog and responsible ownership of a dog cannot be ensured, so the problem of the occasional aggressive dog will always be with us. Legislation is nevertheless needed so as to protect the public and domestic pets as far as possible.

Any dog which kills another domestic animal or attacks a human should be deemed dangerous and neutered. It should not be allowed out in public unless muzzled. This is apparently covered by Legal Notice 242/2000.

Another step could be a breed ban. The question of which breeds to ban is difficult. Pit bull terriers were outlawed many years ago in the UK and all pit bull terriers in ownership were neutered. This breed is now virtually non-existent in the UK. Another point to be kept in mind is this: There will always be people who want aggressive dogs. Such people find a way round a breed ban by seeking out other breeds and training them to become vicious.

The list of banned breeds should therefore be kept under review, possibly in collaboration with other EU countries. In general, dog breeds that have been bred for fighting, as typified by pit bull terriers, should be banned.

Such breeds in current ownership should be neutered in order to prevent their propagation. If a law to this effect is already in existence, it should be revised and enforced.

Mr Flores's suggestion that all dogs should be muzzled in public is totally unacceptable. The overwhelming majority of pet dogs are well behaved; they are not aggressive and they have responsible owners. Muzzling innocent dogs is unnecessarily cruel and can endanger the dog since the only way a dog can keep cool in hot weather is by panting. Muzzled dogs have been known to die from heat stroke in hot weather. Muzzling should be restricted to dogs known to have exhibited dangerous behaviour.