DOG ATTACKS SOAR BY 21% IN A YEAR
Police blame more reporting and effects of Covid lockdown
When I went in, I didn’t even recognise my own grandson
PAULINE ELFORD WHO FOUND BOY KILLED BY DOG
DOG attacks rocketed 21% last year, figures have revealed, with police saying Covid lockdowns are partly to blame.
Freedom of Information requests showed police forces in England and Wales recorded 30,539 offences of a dog injuring a person or guide dog in 2023. That was up from 25,291 in 2022. Devon and Cornwall Police dealt with the biggest increase in attacks, up 51% from 662 in 2022 to 1,002 in 2023.
The force said a number of factors contributed, including an increase in reporting and how offences are recorded.
And the National Police Chiefs’ Council said of dog attacks: “We believe some of this could be attributed to dogs purchased during lockdown, who missed out on key socialisation and have then become too difficult to handle in maturity.”
The figures, from BBC Freedom of Information requests, are released after the Mirror campaigned for a reform of the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Since February 1 this year, it has been a criminal offence to own an unregistered XL Bully. Emma Whitfield, whose son was killed in a horror XL Bully attack, joined our crusade.
But she says a ban is not enough to stop the deaths. The 33-year-old, who lost her son Jack Lis, 10, in November 2021, says the Government must now go after backyard breeders – who have “blood on their hands,” she says.
Jack was set upon by a muscle-bound animal called Beast in Caerphilly, South Wales. He died despite a police officer’s attempts to drag him to safety.
The grandma of another boy who lost his life said owners of dogs that kill should face manslaughter charges.
Pauline Elford’s nine-year-old grandson Frankie MacRitchie died in 2019. Mrs Elford said Frankie had been left alone with the seven-stone American bull terrier cross in a caravan in Cornwall.
She said nobody heard Frankie’s screams, adding: “When I entered the caravan, I didn’t even recognise my own grandson.”
Under the Dangerous Dogs Act, owners can be sentenced to 14 years and/or banned from ownership. Their dogs can be put down.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Dog attacks can have tragic consequences, which is why it is a criminal offence to allow any dog to be dangerously out of control.
“Buyers should ensure that the dog they buy is suitable for their home”