A MAN who was mauled by a dog said that changes in the law regarding dangerous dogs needed to be made.
Stephen Toward backed proposed changes but said that prosecuting owners would be like "jailing the parents if a son kills someone."
Mr Toward, 59, suffered severe injuries after being attacked in 2009. He had bites on his arm, finger and chest when a dog attacked him as he left his Chaddesden home.
Before the attack, Mr Toward was getting over the cancer he had been diagnosed with in 2006.
He said: "I also contracted encephalitis and although the doctors couldn't prove that it was due to the dog attack, I think it was all linked. I was getting better and doing okay before I was attacked."
Mr Toward has been left disabled because of the attack and cannot work.
He said: "I spent a lot of time in hospital and didn't know who my wife or children were, I had to learn to wash myself again and could not read or write.
"I'm angry about how the attack left me and how it has affected my life. I have very strong feelings but you have to live with it. The worst thing is that I cannot work."
The Government has put proposals for higher jail terms out to consultation.
For owners whose dogs kill their victims, life imprisonment is an option, while 10 years is the maximum term suggested for injuring a person or killing an assistance dog, like a guide dog for the blind.
The new consultation will run to September 1 and will be used to inform recommendations put forward in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill.
Sixteen people have been killed by dangerous dogs since 2005. There are 210,000 attacks and more than 6,000 hospital visits caused by dangerous dogs each year.
