Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of dog attacks in each of the last five years involving breeds of dog not covered by the the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 covers all dogs by making it an offence to allow a dog (of any breed or type) to be dangerously out of control. The Office of National Statistics collect data on the number of people attacked by dogs that results in them being admitted to hospital. However, the data does not contain the breed or type of dog involved.

The Government wants to reduce the number of dog attacks and has begun a research project which will, among other things, include identifying and examining the risk factors and situations that may cause dog attacks. We anticipate findings from the research towards the end of this year.