(2) how many prosecutions there have been for dog control offences under the Town and Police Clauses Act 1847 in each year since 1997;
(3) how many prosecutions there have been for dog control offences under the Metropolitan Police Act 1839 in each year since 1997.
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences under, (i) Breeding Dogs Act 1991, (ii) Town and Police Clauses Act 1847, in England and Wales 1997 to 2008 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
The Ministry of Justice Court Proceeding database cannot separately identify offences relating to dogs under the Metropolitan Police Act 1839.
The Ministry of Justice advise that court proceedings data for 2009 are planned for publication in the autumn of 2010.
Offence description Offences in relation to dogs Intentionally obstructing or delaying any person in the exercise of his powers of entry or inspection Statute Town Police Clauses Act 1847, Sec 28(2) to (4) Breeding of Dogs Act 1991 1997 10 1 1998 9 1 1999 14 — 2000 8 1 2001 8 — 2002 7 — 2003 8 — 2004 1 — 2005 4 — 2006 4 — 2007 3 — 2008 1 — 1 The figures given in the table on court proceedings 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 it 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 Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services in the Ministry of Justice