Stolen Dogs (818A/20)
Request
In relation to piece of research on the impact of the pandemic lockdown on dog theft, I would like to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
I would be very grateful if you could provide me with the following information
1. In the year 2019:
a. How many dogs were reported stolen at your police force?
b. What breed of dogs were they?
c. Where were the dogs stolen?
d. Where the dogs microchipped?
2. From January 2020 to September 2020
a. How many dogs were reported stolen at your police force?
b. What breed of dogs were they?
c. Where were the dogs stolen?
d. Where the dogs microchipped?
Response
Please note that these data should be interpreted with caution in addition, the number of incidents/crimes recorded in an area over a period of time can be influenced by a number of factors. Consequently statistics on incidents/crimes for one period may not necessarily be a good indicator of future incidents in that area.
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 a number of data sources used by forces for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when interpreting those data.
The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of relevance of data to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be taken into account when those data are used.