Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 12 June 2014.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department holds on the number of dog attacks on sheep flocks in each of the last three years.
DEFRA and our delivery partner, the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, do not record this information.
DEFRA has sourced information regarding defendants proceeded against at magistrates court, found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences relating to dogs worrying livestock on agricultural land, England and Wales, 2011-13.1, 2, 3
Offence | Outcome | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
Proceeded against | 64 | 71 | 50 | |
Found guilty | 53 | 57 | 37 | |
Sentenced | 53 | 57 | 37 | |
Absolute discharge | — | 1 | 1 | |
Conditional discharge | 10 | 16 | 5 | |
Fine | 34 | 34 | 26 | |
Dogs worrying livestock on agricultural land4 | Community sentence | — | 1 | — |
Suspended sentences | — | — | — | |
Otherwise dealt with | 9 | 5 | 5 | |
Immediate custody | — | — | — | |
Average fine (£) | 165.47 | 177.50 | 221.54 | |
Average custodial sentence length (months)5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
1 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 3 The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. 4 Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953. 5 Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. |
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