Seized Dogs and Welfare

This survey has been created to gain a national picture of the handling of Dangerous Dogs, their seizure and their welfare. To complete it, you must have been involved in an incident of bite/injury or an allegation of owning a banned breed regardless of whether your dog was seized or whether court action was taken. It relates to seizure and welfare ONLY, not other issues in the Dangerous Dogs Act.

In order to suggest improvements, get better welfare and general improvements, evidence is needed that there is a problem. The individual complaints have not had a national effect. I am an independent expert witness and dog behaviourist and I assess dogs involved in DDA cases and give evidence in court.

If you wish to complete this via email please ask and one will be sent to you. If you prefer to be anonymous, the email version can be sent to anyone on your behalf.

In Ju ly 2020 after several years of promoting good practice in the seizure and handling of Dangerous Dog Cases, training kennel staff and creating accredited courses I did an 11 page report outlining good and bad practice that was sent to NPCC and direct to several Chief Constables. I still await the response I was promised. I have the support of several national organisations in pursuing the written standards I have suggested. To further evidence issues, I have created this survey to gather a picture of the handling of seized dogs and cases nationally.

Please note that this survey relates to ENGLAND and WALES only due to different police set up in Police Scotland. There will be a different survey created for Scotland soon.

Please answer as closely as you can with regards to timings. Responses will be kept private and individuals not identified but the overall results will be published. Please email any questions or problems to dogexpert@outlook.com or message the page.

Debbie Connolly, Expert Witness and Dog Behaviourist

Dogline UK / My Dog Has Bitten / SafePets UK

Does the incident you are responding about involve a suspected bite/injury, a suspected banned breed or causing reasonable apprehension of injury?

Use "other" if you feel your circumstances are not in the options, such as injury to another animal or another incident)

Bite/injury to human only

Banned breed only

Bite/injury to human and banned breed

reasonable apprehension of injury to human only

reasonable apprehension of injury to human only and banned breed

injury to another dog and reasonable apprehension of injury to human

injury to another dog and injury to human

injury to another dog only

Other:

What area did this happen in (i.e. which Police Force) and what year (the start year, not the end)

What breed(s) and age was your dog at the time?

If your incident was ONLY that of being suspected of being a banned breed, what was the outcome?

If your dog was not returned as it died whilst seized or you agreed to pts as informed the dog was seriously unwell, please use other to explain. A later question will ask about the condition of returned dogs. If multiple dogs with different outcomes, explain in other.

dog exempted by court and returned to me/not seized

dog proven not to be a banned breed in court and returned to me

dog exempted by court and returned to friend/family member/ other person

dog destroyed by Police as not exempted by court as no proper person to take ownership

dog destroyed by police before court due to my disclaiming dog to police

case dropped/ no charges made as police examination or re-examination decided the dog was not a banned breed and dog returned to me

Dog not returned as died whilst held in kennels

Other:

If your incident was suspected of causing injury or reasonable apprehension of injury whether also suspected of being a banned breed or not, what was the outcome?

dog returned to me after court with order conditions

dog returned to me after court with no conditions or order

dog returned to me with no further action/case dropped

dog destroyed by police before court due to my disclaiming dog to police

Dog not returned as died whilst held in kennels

Dog returned to me with a voluntary order of conditions and no court action

dog not seized and no further action

Other:

If your dog was suspected ONLY of being a banned breed, was it seized by police? (please add brief info in "other" if this was multiple dogs with different outcomes).

Yes my dog was seized and held until court

Yes my dog was seized but returned to me as not being a banned breed

Yes my dog was seized but was returned pending the court case to exempt it

No my dog was not seized

No my dog was not seized as seen at home by Police and decided not a banned breed

No my dog was not seized but was seen at home by police and declared to be a banned breed but allowed to remain at home.

Other:

If your dog was suspected ONLY of causing injury or of reasonable apprehension of injury, was it seized by police? (please add brief info in "other" if this was multiple dogs with different outcomes.

Yes my dog was seized and held until the court case

Yes my dog was seized but returned to me as not pursuing the case

Yes my dog was seized but was returned pending the court case

No my dog was not seized

If your dog was suspected of causing injury or of reasonable apprehension of injury AND suspected of being a banned breed, was it seized by police? (please add brief info in "other" if this was multiple dogs with different outcomes).

Yes my dog was seized and held until court

Yes my dog was seized but returned to me as not pursuing the case

Yes my dog was seized but was returned pending the court case

No my dog was not seized

If your dog was seized at all regardless of the length of time held, was it seized on a warrant?

Seizure using section 19 of PACE rather than a warrant needs "lawful entry" to a property. A banned breed can be seized without a warrant in a public place.

My dog was not seized

Yes, police came with a warrant

No, police came but did not have a warrant

Police asked to enter my property and then stated they would seize the dog

Other:

How long after the incident did Police seize your dog if it was seized

Were you offered a disclaimer to sign when police attended?

Police make their own versions of a disclaimer. This document disclaims ownership of your dog to police. It is often offered at first contact with a dog owner. Please briefly note in the other box either why you signed, why you changed your mind and your experience of being offered the disclaimer.

Yes and I signed the disclaimer

Yes and I refused to sign the disclaimer

Yes I signed the disclaimer but later changed my mind and asked to rescind it

No I was not offered a disclaimer

Other:

How long was your dog kept by Police

Were you required by the court to pay the kennel fees back to police, if so, how much did you pay compared to how much was asked for?

please try to state how much was asked for and how much the court decided you had to pay.

When your dog was returned home, were you concerned about the condition of your dog?

If yes, please explain briefly in other.

Yes

Other:

If you had concerns about the condition of your dog, did your dog see a vet within 3 days of returning home and was treatment necessary? Do you have photos and vet records for this?

Please describe briefly what treatment was needed, why it was longer than 3 days if it was and what evidence you have. Please state why a vet visit was not needed if so.

Did you make a complaint of any kind during the investigation or afterwards?

Please explain as briefly as possibly the substance of the complaint, whether made by informal phone call or email, or by phone on 101 specifically saying complaint, online complaint form or direct to Professional Standards or IOPC (formerly IPCC).

Please add the outcome(s).

Was there anything you would praise the officers for? Either the Dog Legislation Officer specifically or the Investigating Officer or another staff member?

Did you engage a behaviourist or trainer after the return of your dog due to changes in behaviour?

No, I did not need to

Yes

Other:

Not including the Dog Legislation Officer who is a force specialist in Dangerous Dogs, how would you rate the knowledge of the officers dealing with your case from first contact onwards?

The next question will account for the DLO knowledge

How would you rate the knowledge of the Dog Legislation Officer in your case?

How would you rate the information given to you regarding the welfare of your dog during any period of seizure

Skip this question if your dog was never seized

Please rate the following in terms of the most important to least important if there could be any changes

Most important

weekly updates on your dog's welfare

weekly/fortnightly updates to owner on where the case is at

independent checks on your dog at the holding kennels

holding kennels must have weekly vet visits

kennel staff must all have independent training

Dog Legislation Officers to complete continuing professional development courses yearly to keep their knowledge current

Police to have deadlines to complete dog cases by

weekly updates between the local officers investigating and the DLO to ensure a speedy conclusion

all officers dealing with dog cases to speak with a DLO prior to visiting dog owners or any other action

a standard form for seizures that includes all of the officer's details and all of the dog's details including vet and owner contact, medical issues, feeding etc

that no dog is seized if only a child under 18 is present at the property unless that person is the householder

where a disclaimer is signed, the dog is kept alive for at least 36 hours to enable the owner to get legal advice

Least important

This survey specifically relates to the seizure of dogs and their welfare, NOT to other issues in the Dangerous Dogs Act. If you have any specific comments or need to clarify any response you have made, please do so here as briefly as possible.