The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts and those fined and given immediate custody under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, England and Wales, from 1998 to 2008 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
Data for 2009 are expected to be published in the autumn of 2010.
Figures for the number of dogs seized under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 are not collected centrally.
Defendants 1998 1999 20003 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 20084 Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place injuring any person Proceeded against 434 449 458 490 537 560 597 645 703 667 675 Found guilty 239 262 260 285 300 302 350 403 458 456 481 Owner or person in charge allowing dog to enter a non-public place and injuring any person Proceeded against 28 34 35 50 38 52 48 44 54 50 44 Found guilty 13 19 19 31 30 33 25 25 29 27 33 Offences in relation to dogs under Section 1(2)(a) Proceeded against 6 1 2 1 6 4 15 3 2 9 4 Found guilty 5 — — — 3 2 14 1 1 7 4 Offences in relation to dogs under Section 1(2)(b) Proceeded against — — 1 — — — — — — — 1 Found guilty — — — — — — — — — — 1 Offences in relation to dogs under Section 1(2)(d) Proceeded against 7 11 9 4 3 2 2 3 1 7 16 Found guilty 2 6 6 2 2 — 1 3 — 5 15 Offences in relation to dogs under Section1(2)(e) Proceeded against — 2 — — 1 — — 1 — — — Found guilty — 1 — — — — — — — — — Offences in relation to dogs under Section 1(3) Proceeded against 23 12 5 4 6 1 5 11 8 87 117 Found guilty 8 5 2 2 2 1 2 7 5 62 95 Offences in relation to dogs under Section 3(1) Proceeded against 248 254 266 278 284 329 290 278 278 341 356 Found guilty 125 126 130 157 150 171 167 168 160 205 239 Offences in relation to dogs under Section 3(3) Proceeded against 12 9 24 20 18 20 11 24 19 22 20 Found guilty 8 5 13 14 7 10 5 9 11 15 10 Offences in relation to dogs under Dangerous Dogs Act Section 4(8) and Protection of Badgers Act 1992 Section 13 Proceeded against 6 30 23 39 29 20 22 16 12 10 14 Found guilty 6 18 16 31 23 12 18 9 4 5 11 Total Proceeded against 764 802 823 886 922 988 990 1,025 1,077 1,193 1,247 Found guilty 406 442 446 522 517 531 582 625 668 782 889 1 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 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 were only able to submit sample data 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. 4 Excludes convictions for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice