Fatal dog attacks (1615A/21)
Request
Please can you answer the below questions for the following time periods: 2017 (calendar year), 2018 (calendar year), 2019 (calendar year); 2020 (calendar year) and 2021 (1 Jan to 31 Oct).
1) How many fatal dog attacks did your force record over the requested period?
Please break this information down in terms of the age of the victim and the breed/type of dog.
2) For each of the fatal dog attacks recorded in Q1, can you please tell me what offence- if any- the owner of the dog was charged with (for example, but not limited to: owning/being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control) and/or investigated over? Please tell me the reasons (for example, no suspect ID, case not in the public interest etc)- for the relevant cases- as to why a charge was not pursued following an investigation.
3) Can you please tell me if any of the dogs in Q1 had previously been recorded by your police as being involved in another criminal attack (for example, but not limited to: injuring someone, attacks on livestock, being used in a gang to facilitate drug deals and debt collection etc).
Can you break this information down in terms of the type of attack the dog had previously been in, the date of that attack (DD/MM/YYYY) and the outcome/action taken -if any- of that incident the dog was previously involved in.
Response
We can confirm that some relevant information is held by West Midlands Police. However, I am not required to release all of the information requested. Please find attached our response.
1615A_21 PIT attachmentQ1.How many fatal dog attacks did your force record over the requested period?
Please break this information down in terms of the age of the victim and the breed/type of dog.
1 attack recorded.
The victim was a female in her 80’s.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-56617182
This information is in the public domain (please see link above).
Q2 & Q3
2) For each of the fatal dog attacks recorded in Q1, can you please tell me what offence- if any- the owner of the dog was charged with (for example, but not limited to: owning/being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control) and/or investigated over? Please tell me the reasons (for example, no suspect ID, case not in the public interest etc)- for the relevant cases- as to why a charge was not pursued following an investigation.
3) Can you please tell me if any of the dogs in Q1 had previously been recorded by your police as being involved in another criminal attack (for example, but not limited to: injuring someone, attacks on livestock, being used in a gang to facilitate drug deals and debt collection etc).
Can you break this information down in terms of the type of attack the dog had previously been in, the date of that attack (DD/MM/YYYY) and the outcome/action taken -if any- of that incident the dog was previously involved in.
Withheld information
REASONS FOR DECISION
The withheld information is exempt by virtue of the following exemptions
Section 30 (1) (a) (b) investigations
Section 40 (2) personal data
In line with the above, I am required to complete a Prejudice Test/Public Interest Test (PIT) on disclosure. Please find this PIT (attached 1615A/21)
Section 40(2) is an absolute and class based exemption if to release the information exists would breach the third party’s data protection rights. In this case to release this personal information would not constitute fair processing of the data. As this exemption is class based I am not required to identify the harm in disclosure and in this instance I believe that the right to privacy outweighs any public interest in release
Any further details regarding these incidents are exempt by the following:
Section 30 (1) (a) (b) – Investigations and proceedings
Section 40 (2) – Personal information