Rise in dangerous dog attacks could be down to 'lockdown puppies'

The number of incidents of owners allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control and cause injury has jumped in the past year by more than a fifth over the past three year - with police saying Covid lockdowns are partly to blame. In 2021/22 there were 755 offences. However that has gone up to 921 offences in 2023/24. The figures from Essex Police were released just days after a woman was killed after a serious dog attack in Southend.

Michelle Hempstead, 34, was attacked at an address in Southend before being rushed to hospital in London on July 29. A post-mortem reported that a severing of the left axillary artery - the main artery to the arm - was among the causes of death.

Essex Police previously said officers were called to an address in Southend, at 11.30pm on 29 July. Two dogs were seized from the address, but just one was believed to have been involved in the incident, they added.

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A woman was also killed in Jaywick this year after being attacked by two XL bully dogs. Esther Martin, 68, died after the incident in Hillman Avenue.

It’s an offence to let a dog be dangerously out of control whether that’s in public or private. The animal is considered to be out of control if it injures someone or makes someone worried that it might injure them.

A court could also decide that the dog is dangerously out of control if it attacks someone’s animal, or the owner of an animal thinks they could be injured if they tried to stop your dog attacking their animal. The rise is consistent with the average in England and Wales.

Freedom of Information requests from March showed police forces in England and Wales recorded 30,539 offences of a dog injuring a person or guide dog in 2023. That was up from 25,291 in 2022.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said of dog attacks: “We believe some of this could be attributed to dogs purchased during lockdown, who missed out on key socialisation and have then become too difficult to handle in maturity.”