FOI 32591
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: HRC0032591/26
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 29th September 2026. Please find below the response to your request:
please provide the following for each calendar year 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025:
- The number of incidents in which an officer discharged a Taser/CED at an animal.
- For each incident, where electronically recorded, please provide:
- the type/species of animal involved;
- for dogs, the breed/type if recorded;
- whether the animal was injured or killed;
- any brief incident description or summary held electronically, for example whether the animal was attacking a person, another animal, a police officer, or was loose in a road/public place.
By “discharged”, I mean fired at or directly applied to the animal, rather than merely drawn, aimed or red-dotted.
If providing any of the incident-level details above would require manual review and engage Section 12, please omit those elements and provide the annual totals and any other information that can be retrieved electronically within the cost limit.
If your system only records a broader category such as “animal”, please provide the information in the form in which it is held.
Reply
Your request for information has been considered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”), and I am not obliged to provide the information requested.
S.12(1) of the Act states that a public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the “appropriate limit”. For police forces in England and Wales, the "appropriate limit" is £450 or 18 hours of work as set by the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
The information you have requested is not available in a readily retrievable format. Unfortunately, this is not something that is individually recorded on our systems. It is also not recorded separately as it is not a Home Office requirement to report such Taser usage.
The only potential way to find the requested information would be to review 816 call incident logs. In order to ascertain whether the information you have requested is held would take in excess of 68 hours as each record would have to be checked individually.
In accordance with s.17(5) of the Act, this acts as a Refusal Notice.
Under s.16 of the Act I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to your request.
Unfortunately, due to the volume of records that would need to be reviewed I am unable to identify information that could be supplied within the fees limit.