§ Mr. Edward DaveyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dogs have been(a) seized and (b) destroyed under the provisions of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to date. [23018]
§ Mr. George HowarthInformation on the numbers of dogs which have been seized by the police and local authorities under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is not collected centrally.
Information on the number of dogs destroyed under the dangerous dogs legislation is not collected in the form requested.
In the period 1992–1996, a total of 977 people were convicted either of offences under section 1 of the 1991 Act or of aggravated offences under section 3. In each of these cases, the court would have had no option but to order the destruction of the dog concerned. This figure, therefore, is likely to be close to the actual number of dogs put down under the Act over that period.