Government has branded ?inaccurate and misleading? a newspaper report claiming a dangerous dogs ban is to be lifted.

The headline on the Bermuda Sun?s front page read: ?Dangerous dogs ban to be lifted.?

But yesterday Department of Environmental Protection Dr. Tom Sleeter denied the report, although he admitted dog clubs were being asked for their views on the ban and possible alternatives.

The controversial ban brought in by former Environment Minister Dennis Lister came into force on July 21. It banned the breeding of dogs that the Ministry had deemed ?potentially dangerous?.

It also banned the importation of new dogs on the list to Bermuda. ?No longer will a person be allowed to import one of these animals merely because the person just purchased it,? said Mr. Lister in a ministerial statement at the time.

Yesterday?s Bermuda Sun story said the ban was to be lifted, possibly as early as January, and quoted Government vet Dr. Jonathon Nisbett and head dog warden Jeffrey Benevides.

Dr. Nisbett was unable to comment on the story as he left the Island yesterday for holiday, and Mr. Benevides declined to comment.

However, Dr. Sleeter said yesterday: ?The headline is totally misleading. The ban is firm and there is no intention of lifting the ban on the importation or breeding of specific breeds of dogs until something just as effective is put in its place.?

Dr. Sleeter said the ban was put in place at relatively short notice, a point which Mr. Lister addressed at the time it was introduced.

?The speed of implementing these new policies is an attempt to put a halt to additional new potentially-problematic animals in the community before the situation worsens,? Mr. Lister said in July.

In a note attached to a list of the banned breeds faxed to yesterday, the Department of Environmental Protection said: ?Government has examined various options to avoid breed-specific policies but has found no practical way to avoid such and still move to prevent harmful incidents. We recognise that these policies have shortcomings and we are working to fix them.?

Echoing Mr. Lister, the statement continued: ?The issues are complex but we do not want the complexity of the matter to frighten us into inaction for fear of not having everything perfectly correct the first time around. The proposed policies are a good starting point, and we can grow from there.

?Public safety is the overall goal and we are examining how we can accommodate persons who want to own these animals for legitimate reasons, if that is at all possible.?

?There has been a good deal of public support for this initiative,? Dr. Sleeter said yesterday.

Following Government?s plan to use the policy as a starting point, he said new Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield has requested that Environmental Protection conduct a ?consultation exercise? with key stakeholders such as the Veterinarian Association and dog clubs.

?We have written to a list of the stakeholders and asked for their views on the ban, the list of dogs, and alternative solutions to an all-out ban,? he said. However, he added: ?Whatever the outcome of the current consultation process, the ban certainly will not be lifted as early as January, as suggested in the (Bermuda Sun) newspaper report.?