Essex Police has revealed dozens of dogs have been seized under the Dangerous Dogs Act and put down so far this year.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request, published by Essex Police, shows the number of dogs seized by the force so far this year, as well as how many dogs seized have been put down. 

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 prohibits or restricts certain types of dogs and codifies the criminal offence of allowing a dog of any breed to be dangerously out of control.

These dogs are described as out of control, aggressive, have attacked someone or are considered dangerous. 

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Police have seized 44 dogs in Essex this year, to the end of September.

The force also revealed 53 dogs seized under the Dangerous Dogs Act have been put down this year, the highest figure since 2018.

The highest number of dogs were seized in 2020 as officers took 88 dogs away.

In 2018 (from October) just 13 dogs were seized and 6 were put down.

Here are the figures for each year since 2018:

  • 2018 from October – 13 seized, 6 put down
  • 2019 - 74 seized, 34 put down
  • 2020 - 88 seized, 33 put down
  • 2021 - 49 seized, 49 put down
  • 2022 to end of September - 44 seized, 53 put down

The force has also previously revealed the cost of kennelling dangerous dogs from June 2019 to May 2020 was £52,139.

All data is correct as of October 12 2022