Nearly 200 dog attacks in just three months

In the period from April to June this year, Northern Ireland’s 11 councils investigated 198 dog attacks on a person, 136 on pets, 40 livestock worrying incidents, and three incidents of “setting a dog on a person”.

The figures were published by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), who have begun publishing canine statistics on its website.

The figures are compiled by local councils across Northern Ireland and forwarded to the department.

Ards and North Down Borough Council investigated more dog attacks on a person than any other, with 48. Derry City and Strabane District Council investigated the fewest, with just four.

There were exactly one dozen successful prosecutions for dog attacks in the April to June quarter, four of which were for attacks on a person, two for livestock worrying, two for attacks on a pet and the remaining four for “setting a dog on a pet”.