Dog attacks on people have increased in England and Wales in the past five years, figures reveal. There were 32,568 recorded offences of an out-of-control dog causing injury in 2024 – a 4% rise on 2023.
Cleveland Police saw a 163% increase – with 363 incidents reported in 2024 compared with 138 in 2019. According to Freedom of Information figures obtained by the BBC, four other forces also saw increases of more than 100%. In Gloucestershire the number of cases reported to police went up by 70% from 204 incidents in 2019, to 346 last year.
And in Wiltshire and Avon and Somerset cases rose by just over 50%.
All forces saw an upward trend in attacks – with South Yorkshire reporting the lowest increase at 22%.
The data takes into account all recorded dog attacks and does not offer information on breed or severity of injury.
The actual attack figures are likely to be higher as the data only counts incidents that were reported to police.
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