The palgrave international handbook of a 348

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No of complaints of special type
‘organised fighting’ involving
a dog(a),(b)
Total numbers of dogs involved
in complaints reported(b)
Total number of convictions
secured in court by the RSPCA
under s8 of the Animal
Welfare Act 2006(c)
(a)

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

493

601

461

435

421

495

440

491

512

506

Total
4,855

1,335

1,418

979

1,092

1,068

1,205

1,201

1,136

1,390

1,389

12,213

n/a

0

10

28

8

18

23

9

13

28

137

These are the number of complaints from the public to the RSPCA national call centre. The RSPCA makes every effort to ensure the
accuracy of data but it is acknowledged that due to reporting and updating methods some of these reports of dog fighting may very
occasionally relate to organised fighting of other species, such as cockfighting or badger baiting. Some incidents involving dog fighting
may also be omitted from the figures if for example they were reported direct from the police to the RSPCA Special Operations Unit
and not from the public via the national call line. In addition, where others have sought to publish RSPCA data they may have failed to
appreciate the difference between numbers of offenders and numbers of convictions, or they may inadvertently be including other
fighting offences.
(b)
‘Complaints reported’ can have any number of outcomes including prosecution and welfare advice, but may also include those where,
upon looking into them, the RSPCA could not find evidence to take further action, or where there was no cause for concern.
(c)
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 came into force in March (Wales) and April (England) 2007 and as such offences occurring before that
date may have been prosecuted under previous legislation. This data is not currently available. These convictions also relate to the
possession of dog fighting paraphernalia and associated equipment.

C. Lawson

Table 2 Total dog fighting complaints and convictions recorded by the RSPCA from 2006–2015