FOI 458795

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 458795

I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 11^th February 2026.  Please find below the response to your request:

Please provide the following data covering the period 1st January 2007 until 31st December 2025:

1. The number of charges brought by your force under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 where the defendant’s recorded occupation at the time of arrest/charge was "Pest Controller," "Pest Control Technician," or "Exterminator."

2. A breakdown of the specific sections charged (e.g., Section 4 - Unnecessary Suffering; Section 7 - Administration of Poisons; Section 9 - Breach of Duty of Care ).

3. The type of animal involved (if recorded).

If a manual search of all animal welfare cases exceeds the cost limit, please prioritize a search of the "Occupation" field in your custody system for the keywords mentioned above. If occupation data is not searchable, please provide the total number of charges under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 where "poison" or "trapping" was mentioned in the case summary.

Reply

West Mercia Police hold some of the information you have requested. We can only provide 6 years of data as information recorded prior to this date could have been subject to partial or full weeding and therefore cannot be considered accurate or complete. Search was carried out from 1/1/2020 – 31/12/2025

1. The number of charges brought by your force under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 where the defendant’s recorded occupation at the time of arrest/charge was "Pest Controller," "Pest Control Technician," or "Exterminator."

Occupation is not a mandatory field.

Under 097/01 Causing, permitting or failing to prevent unnecessary suffering of protected animal; Animal Welfare Act 2006 Sec 4 (1) (2) 32 (1) there are 17 charged offences, a manual search was carried out and none have declared an occupation of "Pest Controller," "Pest Control Technician," or "Exterminator."

1. A breakdown of the specific sections charged (e.g., Section 4 - Unnecessary Suffering; Section 7 - Administration of Poisons; Section 9 - Breach of Duty of Care ).

16 charged - Cause unnecessary suffering to a protected animal

1 charged - Responsible person fail to prevent the causing of unnecessary suffering to an animal

1. The type of animal involved (if recorded).

If a manual search of all animal welfare cases exceeds the cost limit, please prioritize a search of the "Occupation" field in your custody system for the keywords mentioned above. If occupation data is not searchable, please provide the total number of charges under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 where "poison" or "trapping" was mentioned in the case summary.

None of the summaries mentioned poison or trapping