FOI 1139-2024/25 Dog Attacks

Request
Q1. The number of reported dog attacks (Home Office code 008/21 – owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control in any place in England or Wales injuring any person or assistance dog) for the following dates:

Feb 1 2020 – Jan 31 2021

Feb 1 2021 – Jan 31 2022

Feb 1 2022 – Jan 31 2023

Feb 1 2023 – Jan 31 2024

Feb 1 2024 – Jan 31 2025

Q2. If there is time, and you are able, please provide me with the number of attacks involving XL Bully dogs for the last annual period (Feb 1 2024 to Jan 31 2025).

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.

I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police. 

Decision
North Yorkshire Police have recently responded to a similar request for information which is published on the North Yorkshire Police website under the following link:

FOI Dangerous Dogs (0980-2024/25) | North Yorkshire Police 

In relation to 2025 data we can confirm that as at 2 March 2025 the information you have requested as follows:

Q1. 2.

Q2. 0.

I appreciate the data is not in your preferred format however in order to comply with your request we would be required to repeat the data retrieval process in order to re-supply the information in your requested format. Unfortunately this process would take a considerable amount of time and would be a duplication of effort when the information is deemed already accessible to you.

I have therefore decided to exempt providing you with a response to part of your request pursuant to Section 21 Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

Section 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means
Section 21 is an absolute class based exemption and I am not required to consider the harm or public interest when applying this exemption.

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in response to your request.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.