You asked
Could you please supply data on any dog related harassment incidents from the last two years; specifically, incidents of harassment against people, using dogs as well as against animals, for example sheep worrying.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Unfortunately, we do not hold the information you have requested.
Offences where the owner or person in charge allows a dog to be dangerously out of control in any place in England or Wales (whether or not a public place) resulting in the injury of any person are included within the ‘assault with injury’ category in police recorded crime data. However, we cannot separately identify these offences. We publish data on ‘assault with injury’ in our quarterly Crime in England and Wales quarterly bulletin. These data can be found in Appendix table A4:
We also publish data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales on experiencing or witnessing anti-social behaviour in the local area, including out of control or dangerous dogs. These data can be found in our Crime in England and Wales quarterly bulletin. These data can be found in Other related tables F8:
While we publish information from police recorded crime, the data are collated and owned by the Home Office. It may be possible that they can help you further. They can be contacted by email at CrimeandPoliceStats@homeoffice.gov.uk
You may find the following information helpful: the Ministry of Justice publish statistics on court outcomes by offence, including ‘Owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place injuring any person’ in their Outcomes by offence data tool: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2018
With regards to incidents of harassment against other animals, this is a summary offence (tried in a magistrates court) and the Home Office does not require police to submit records of livestock harassment by dogs into the centrally held database of police recorded crime. As a result, there are no uniformly recorded statistics at a national level. However, you may find the following information helpful: the National Police Chief’s Council published a report on livestock worrying from five police forces across England and Wales over a four-year period to the year ending August 2017. The report can be found here:
https://www.npcc.police.uk/Publication/livestock%20worrying.pdf
If you have any further questions or would like any crime related information in the future, please feel free to email CrimeStatistics@ons.gov.uk and we will endeavour to help you.