Dog owners prosecuted

HUNDREDS of dog owners have been prosecuted in Wales over the last five years after their out-ofcontrol pets attacked and injured people.

In cases where a dog is considered “dangerously out of control” – which could be if it makes someone fear it might attack them – courts can make an order to control or even destroy the dog to protect the public.

If an out-of-control dog actually does attack and injure someone, that is considered an aggravating factor, and the owner could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison – as well as making it more likely that the dog will be destroyed.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show that last year court proceedings were launched in 57 cases against people for the crime of allowing their dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place and injuring another person. Of those, 50 resulted in a conviction, and 50 sentences were handed out by the courts. That includes three prison sentences, 10 suspended sentences, nine community sentences, and 25 fines. Three cases concluded with a conditional discharge.

The previous year, court proceedings were launched in 52 cases against dog owners, with 43 convictions. In 2019 there were 45 prosecutions and 43 convictions. In total over the last five years, there have been 317 prosecutions, 260 convictions, and 257 sentences handed out.

Of offences committed in the last five years, nine have been deemed so serious that the dog owner was handed an immediate custodial sentence, while another 31 received suspended sentences. The courts also gave out 50 community sentences, 131 fines, and four orders for compensation. One dog owner received an absolute discharge, 28 a conditional discharge and three were “otherwise dealt with”.

Across Wales and England last year, the average custodial sentence handed out to owners of dogs that attacked people was 10.3 months. That has fallen from an average of 14.2 months in 2020 but is similar to the average prison sentence of 10.4 months in 2019.

The courts also slapped offenders with average fines of £340 in 2021, a 42% rise on the average fine of £239 in 2020 and the highest average in the last five years.

Average compensation paid out to victims, however, fell by 35% from £333 in 2020 to £217 last year.