FOI.23.004429.O - Dog Attacks

Request

I am writing to you under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to request specific data related to dog attacks recorded by your force.

1. Could you kindly confirm whether your force records dog attacks, as per section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act (DDA), as distinct offences in accordance with the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS)?

2. I would appreciate if you could provide a month-by-month breakdown of the number of attacks recorded from January 1, 2020, to the present date. The nearest month end data would be acceptable.

3. In the aftermath of these recorded attacks, could you provide information on the number of dogs that were seized and subsequently assessed?

4. Furthermore, I am interested in knowing the number of dogs that were destroyed as a result of an attack. If possible, could you differentiate between those destroyed at the scene and those destroyed in kennels?

5. Could you confirm how many of the dogs that were destroyed were done so at the discretion of their owners?

6. I would also like to inquire whether your force records the breed, sex, and age of the dogs reported or seized. If so, could you please provide this information?

7. Lastly, does your force record whether the dog was an intact male or a spayed female? If this information is available, I would be grateful if you could share it.

 

The Freedom of Information Act requires that this request is dealt with in a manner that is motive and applicant blind. A disclosure under this legislation is considered a disclosure to the world and is considered to be on the basis that it is in the public interest.

This response is unique to Humberside Police, and you are advised not to compare this like for like with any other force’s response you receive.

Response

Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing you with a response, thank you for your patience.

Following liaison with the Dog Legislation Officer, the following information can be disclosed:

1. Yes

2. It has been advised that it is not possible to retrieve this part of your request within the ‘appropriate limit’ (18 – hours). This is because the information that you are requesting is not stored in a way which permits easy retrieval. To establish what incidents are specifically dog attacks would require manual searching through each offence. Therefore, S12 of the Act applies.

Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit. s1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ (18 – hours).

Activities that may be counted within our time estimations are:
• Determining if the information is held;
• Locating the information, or a document containing it;
• Retrieving the information, or a document containing it; and
• Extracting the information from a document containing it.

The following have not been included within our calculations:
• The time spent identifying information to be exempted
• The time dedicated to the process of redaction.

Please take this as a refusal notice in accordance with section 17(5) of the Act which states; A public authority which, in relation to any request for information, is relying on a claim that section 12 or 14 applies must, within the time for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a notice stating that fact.

Although excess cost removes the forces obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture of goodwill, I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved or available before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded. I trust this is helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fees regulations.

The following figures include and not limited to, dog attacks on people, dog attacks on dogs, dog attacks on other animals, dogs being vicious towards other dogs, it would also include if there has been an injury as well as no injuries. In the spirit of the ask it has been agreed to send out the figures as they are presented on this understanding.

S3 – Owner or person in charge of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control in any place in England and Wales (whether or not in a public place) injuring any person or assistance dog.

Year	2020	2021	2022	2023
Jan	24	16	27	37
Feb	19	23	26	37
Mar	16	34	34	24
Apr	22	32	23	48
May	29	31	41	66
Jun	26	32	43	41
Jul	34	32	39	66
Aug	33	41	44	64
Sep	37	31	34	58
Oct	25	29	40	28
Nov	27	32	39
Dec	20	14	39
Grand Total	312	347	429	469

3. 132 dogs seized for Section 1 and requiring an assessment. This figure includes dogs instantly sent home that did not require a full assessment.

4. Since January 2020 until July 2023, we have had 79 dogs destroyed which are being investigated for S3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act This number includes owner voluntary disclaiming, welfare issues, on a vet’s diagnosis (severely ill) and court orders. No dogs have been destroyed at scenes.

5. 53

6. No information held. We do not routinely record the breed, sex and age of dogs reported or seized.

7. Not recorded.

Please note that police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide information and statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted that for these reasons this force’s response to your questions should not be used for the comparison purposes with any other response you may receive.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at
[email protected] or 01482 578662.

Information Governance Unit Humberside Police

You can view our complaints procedure here.