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Dangerous Dogs

Answer

Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts for the requested offences are shown in the attached table. Figures for 2006 will be available in the autumn. Information for Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Office and that for Northern Ireland for the Northern Ireland Office.

The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates’ court for offences relating to the Dangerous Dogs Acts 1989 and 1871 Section 2 and Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sections 1(2)(a), 1(2)(d), 1(2)(e) and 1(3) in England and Wales 1992-2005 (1) (2) (3)
Statute	Offence description	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Dangerous Dogs Act 1989. Dogs Act 1871 Sec. 2.	Failure to comply with an order to keep a dog under proper control etc. Dangerous dog not kept under proper control.	889	609	551	510	513	492	454
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec. 1(2)(a).	Breeding or breeding from a fighting dog.	31	9	1	1	5	1	5
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec. 1(2)(d).	Allowing a fighting dog to be in a public place without a muzzle or a lead.	187	74	24	20	12	12	7
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec. 1(2)(e).	Abandoning, or allowing to stray, a fighting dog.	27	12	8	3	2	3	-
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec. 1(3).	Possession, without exemption, of a Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa or other designated fighting dog.	209	167	57	35	18	15	23
Total		1,343	871	641	569	550	523	489

Statute	Offence description	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Dangerous Dogs Act 1989. Dogs Act 1871 Sec. 2.	Failure to comply with an order to keep a dog under proper control etc. Dangerous dog not kept under proper control.	401	462	374	336	335	352	306
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec. 1(2)(a).	Breeding or breeding from a fighting dog.	1	2	1	6	4	15	3
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec. 1(2)(d).	Allowing a fighting dog to be in a public place without a muzzle or a lead.	11	9	4	3	2	2	3
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec. 1(2)(e).	Abandoning, or allowing to stray, a fighting dog.	2	-	-	1	-	-	1
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec. 1(3).	Possession, without exemption, of a Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa or other designated fighting dog.	12	5	4	6	1	5	11
Total		427	478	383	352	342	374	324
- NIL
(1) These data are on the principal offence basis.
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
(3) Staffordshire police force was able to submit sample data only for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.
Our ref: PQ HL1625 and HL1626
Source: RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

1625; 689 c116-8WA

Session

2006-07

Subjects

Dogs Prosecutions

Legislation

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

Dogs Act 1871

Dangerous Dogs Act 1989

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk