FOI 0970-2025/26- Dogs seized

Request:

I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of information Act.

Q1. For each of last 5 calendar years including up to the date of this request, how many dogs have been seized by the force after being assessed as being a banned breed or type?

Q2. For each of the last 5 calendar years including up to the date of this request, on how many occasions has your force used the Interim Exemption Scheme for dogs assessed as being a banned breed or type?

Q3. How many dogs are currently in kennels as a result of being seized as a banned breed or type by your force?

Q4. For dogs that are currently in kennels as a result of being seized as a banned breed or type by your force, what is the average length of stay in kennels, in days? Are you able to say what the shortest and longest durations are?

Q5. For each of the last 5 calendar years including up to the date of this request, how many times has your force been required to use a kenneling facility outside of your normal contracted kennels due to capacity issues?

Q6. Are you able to estimate at what percentage of kennel capacity your force is currently operating in regard to dogs housed in contracted kennels due to being assessed as being a banned breed?

Response:

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

I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.

Q1. Please see the table below showing the number of dogs seized after being assessed as being a banned breed/type, broken down by calendar year.

Q2. The Interim Exemption Scheme was not adopted within North Yorkshire until June 2025, and since then it has been used on 2 separate occasions

Q3. 3

Q4. Shortest - 9, longest - 343, average – 124.

Q5. None

Q6. Approximately 25%

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.