FOI 228626
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 228626
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 10th February 2023. Please find below the response to your request:
Q1. Please state how many dogs were reported as stolen in your area in 2022:
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2022 |
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Reports of dogs being stolen |
Q2. Over the same timeframe, please state how many of these cases were resolved (i.e. the pet was returned to its owner):
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2022 |
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Cases of dogs being returned |
Q3. If possible, please state the three most commonly stolen breeds of dog and the number of each taken, in 2022:
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Stolen dogs |
Breed #1 |
Breed #2 |
Breed #3 |
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Name |
Count |
Name |
Count |
Name |
Count |
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2022 |
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Reply
Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding. Please see response to your request below:
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Number of dogs recorded as stolen in West Mercia from 1/1/2022 to 31/12/2022. |
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2022 |
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Number of reports of dog stolen |
59 |
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Number of individual dogs stolen |
66 |
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Cases of dogs being returned to owner |
20 |
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Number of individual dogs returned to owner |
22 |
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Three most commonly stolen breeds of dog in 2022 |
Number stolen |
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French Bulldog |
7 |
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Staffordshire Bull Terrier |
5 |
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Dachshund |
3 |
Caveat:
As there is no specific offence of “theft of a dog”, searches have been carried out for:
Burglary Residential
Attempted Burglary - Residential
Distraction Burglary - Residential
Attempted Distraction Burglary - Residential
Aggravated Burglary - Residential
Burglary Business and community
Attempted Burglary – Business and community
Aggravated Burglary – Business and community
Theft from the Person.
Theft in a Dwelling Other that from an Auto Machine or Meter.
Other Theft.
There are no specific fields in the crime recording system to capture the breed of dog, the number stolen per offence, or if a stolen dog has been returned. Therefore, during the manual review of the Incident Summary fields, these 3 details (when stated) were noted. Thus, the numbers reflect only those that were included in the Incident Summary field. To put this into context, of the 66 individual dogs reported stolen, the breeds of 28 dogs were not recorded/reported.