FOI 949-2023 / Oct 2023 / Dog post-mortem
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 949-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 16th October 2023 as follows:
I am seeking details regarding post-mortem reports on dogs that have attacked humans and subsequently been "destroyed".
Specifically, I would like to obtain the following information:
Q1. Whether a post-mortem examination was carried out on dogs involved in incidents in regards to human attacks that were subsequently PTS.
Q2. The breed or breeds of the dogs involved in these incidents, as determined by a qualified professional during the post-mortem examination.
Q3. Any findings related to the presence of drugs or substances, such as steroids, as revealed during the post-mortem examination of these dogs.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in providing the response to your request and for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that the requested information is not centrally recorded and is therefore not held in a readily retrievable format. There is no way of readily identifying from the crime recording system whether a dog involved in a dangerous dog offence, was put to sleep or subject to a post-mortem. This is also the case for identifying breed type. In order to provide assistance, the business area has conducted a search for the number of offences classified under offence code ‘8/21 – ‘Owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control in any place in England or Wales (whether or not a public place) injuring any person or assistance dog’, for the period 1st January 2018* to 30th September 2023. Under this offence, a dog shall be regarded as dangerously out of control on any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person or assistance dog, whether, or not it actually does so. This search identified 1,268 crimes, as broken down below.
|
Year |
Number of offences |
|
2018 |
193 |
|
2019 |
178 |
|
2020 |
190 |
|
2021 |
210 |
|
2022 |
266 |
|
2023 (up to end Sept) |
231 |
|
Grand total |
1268 |
In order to determine a response to the request, it would be necessary to manually review each and every investigation report and any associated documentation, on an individual basis. At an estimate of at least 5 minutes per record to review, this would equate to more than 102 hours of work and would therefore exceed the amount to which we are legally required to respond, i.e., the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004. For Police forces in the UK, the "appropriate limit" is considered to be up to 18 hours of work on one request.
A calculation of the time involved is set out below:
1232 offences @ 5 minutes per record to review = 102.6 hours
*Please note that due to system changes crime data is not available prior to 2018.
In accordance with section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter is a Refusal Notice for this request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to refining your request. I can advise that it may be possible to provide some information if the scope of the request were reduced to a period of 6 months.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB