FOI 839-2023 / Sept 2023 / Dangerous dogs
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 839-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 11th September 2023 as follows:
Q1. Could you please provide the number of dogs seized by your force under the dangerous dogs act, broken down by breed, for each calendar year from 2018, including the figures for 2023 so far.
Q2. Could you also provide the number of dogs destroyed by police under the act each year from 2018, again broken down by breed.
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that some of the requested information is not centrally recorded and is therefore not held in a readily retrievable format. There is no field or marker within the crime system to record or flag the breed type of a dangerous dog or whether it has been seized and/or destroyed. Between 2019 and 2022, the force utilised a bespoke system to record dog seizures and destructions, however, due to changes in 2022, this system, and the information recorded on it, is no longer accessible. Therefore, in order to provide a response to the request it would be necessary to manually review each and every crime recorded under Home Office classification code 08/21 – ‘Owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control injuring any person or assistance dog’ for the specified period. The business area has carried out a search and has advised that there is a total of 1,232 such offences recorded between 1st January 2018 and 31st August 2023. At a conservative estimate of 5 minutes per record to review, this would equate to in excess of 102 hours of work for this part of the request, and therefore the work involved in locating and retrieving the requested information exceeds the cost threshold of £450, which equates to 18 hours work at a standard rate of £25 per hour, as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
In accordance with the section 12(1) Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for this part of the request, and, if one part of a request exceeds the fees limit, then section 12 of the Act applies to the whole 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 the requested information for the period 2023 (January to date), should you wish to revise and resubmit your request.
Outside of the Act, and as a gesture of goodwill, a response to Q1 and Q2, regarding seizures and destructions of dangerous dogs, for the years 2019 to 2022, which has previously been issued for FOI requests using information that was accessible from the bespoke system at that time, is set out below.
|
Dangerous Dogs* |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
Total |
|
Dogs seized |
20 |
25 |
29 |
55 |
129 |
|
Dogs destroyed |
7 |
8 |
8 |
14 |
37 |
*A breakdown by breed is not available for the above
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