FOI 716-2025 / Jul 2025 / Dangerous dogs
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 716-2025
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 16th July 2025 as follows:
For the period: 1st January 2025 to the 30th June 2025
Q1. How many suspected Section 1 dogs (per type) did your force seize under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (DDA).
Q1.2. For each S1 dog seized the average length of time between seizure and court hearing.
Q1.3. For each S1 dog seized the cost per day per dog for kennelling.
Q2. The number of dogs seized as suspected prohibited types, deemed by the courts as being of each of the five different banned types Pit Bull Terrier Dogo Argentino Japanese Tosa Fila Brasileiro American Bully XL .
Q3. How many Section 3 offences were taken to court?
Q3.1 of these how many were Section 3 offences including a dog of a type proscribed under Section 1 of the DDA?
Q3.2 For each dog involved in a Section 3 offence, what was their breed or type?
Q4.How many dogs were seized for S1 offences and euthanised
Q4.1 how many of those were each of the four banned types Pit Bull Terrier Dogo Argentino Japanese Tosa Fila Brasileiro American Bully XL
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.
Regarding Q1, Q1.2, Q2. Q4, and Q4.1, in order to provide the requested information in relation to seizures of suspected banned and dangerous dogs, including the breed type recorded, and, if relevant, the time between seizure and court hearing, and whether euthanised, it would be necessary to manually review the wider records and documentation for each dog seized on an individual basis. The business area has advised that, for the period 1st January to 30th June 2025, 82 dogs were seized in total, and that it would take approximately 20 to 30 minutes to individually review each seizure for the requested information, which equates to between 28 and 41 hours of work. Therefore, the work involved in locating and retrieving the requested information for these parts of the request 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 Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for these parts of the request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance; however, regarding the above parts of the request, I am unable to suggest a way to reduce these into ones that could be managed within the fees limit.
With regard to Q3, I can advise that it may be possible to conduct searches within the cost threshold to identify the number of notifiable offences recorded in the specified period that are classified under the following Home Office Crime Code, and refine the results for those crimes with an outcome of ‘Charged/Summonsed’, should you wish to revise and resubmit your request. :
- ‘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’,
Where an ‘8.21’ offence is recorded, there is no way of readily identifying from the crime recording system the breed of dog involved without reviewing each offence on an individual basis. Therefore, with regard to Q3.1 and Q3.2, it may be possible to manually review the results from Q3, using the method described above, to determine breed recorded. However, this would be entirely dependent on the number of records that would need to be reviewed on an individual basis and how long it would take to review each one. Therefore, should you wish to resubmit Q3.1 and Q3.2 also, please be mindful that there is a possibility that this may still exceed the fees limit. Further, in the event that information is retrievable within the cost threshold, this would be subject to the usual disclosure considerations.
Finally, regarding Q1.3 and the cost of kennelling, I can advise that since 2024, the overall spend relating to kennelling of dangerous dogs has been recorded, however this cannot be separated by individual dog or by reason for seizure. Therefore, it may be possible to provide the overall total spend for kennelling of dangerous dogs for the whole financial year period 2024/25, should you also wish to resubmit this part of the request.
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