FOI 302391

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 302391

I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 8^th January 2024.  Please find below the response to your request:

Q1. Please state how many dogs were reported as stolen in your area in 2023:

Q2. Over the same timeframe, please state how many of these cases were resolved (i.e. the pet was returned to its owner):

Q3. If possible, please state the three most commonly stolen breeds of dog and the number of each taken, in 2023:

Reply

Q1. Please state how many dogs were reported as stolen in your area in 2023:

Caveat:  There is no specific offence title or category for theft of pets/dogs.  The recording of stolen dogs with a separate field is not mandatory and is not routinely completed and therefore we cannot rely on this to complete a search.  A keyword search has therefore been completed to collate this information. The use of a key word search to identify offences means that the search may not return every relevant offence as it requires the officer recording the offence to have used one of these words within the free text fields searched. Therefore, it should be noted that our response should not be used for comparison purposes with other forces or quoted as being official statistics. 

Q2. Over the same timeframe, please state how many of these cases were resolved (i.e. the pet was returned to its owner):

No information held. We do not record on our systems if a dog was found or recovered.

Q3. If possible, please state the three most commonly stolen breeds of dog and the number of each taken, in 2023:

Caveat: Not all breeds are recorded on our systems (15 out of the 40 had breed unspecified)