Dangerous Dogs Seized

1. In relation to the 2010 calendar year can you please state how many dogs your force has seized under the powers of the Dangerous Dogs Act?

2. In relation to the 2010 calendar year please state how many dogs your force has destroyed under the powers of the Dangerous Dogs Act?

3. In relation to the 2010 calendar year please can you provide the number of incidents or reports that you have relating to a dog biting (i) an adult or a dog biting (ii) a child where the dog is recorded as potentially being classified under the Dangerous Dogs Act?

In accordance with section 1(1) (b) of the Act our response is provided below;

2010 dogs seized under the DDA 47
2010 dogs destroyed under DDA 17

In 2010 there were 1089 incidents created involving animals however it is impossible to say how many of these were dog related or dog bites. the only way to tell would be to open each incident and hope it was updated correctly, it is likely that this would exceed the FOI Cost restraints. However, we can provide figures based on the Dangerous Dog database and the Dog bite register which are as follows:

Bites recorded of dogs not believed S1 (breeding and selling of fighting dogs) but covered by S3 (Out of control in a public place) on Adults 8, on children 6.

Bites recorded of dogs covered by S1 on Adults 9, on Children 1.

The current system of incident recording does not break down incidents sufficiently to show dog involvement only animals. The dog bite register figures are a guide as there maybe more incidents which were covered by S3 (dog dangerously out of control in a public place) where there does not need to be a bite for the offence to be complete but these incidents would not be entered onto the dog bite register.