A DOG has been detained by Dyfed-Powys Police for over two years as part of an inquiry. The police have yet to decide on whether the dog will be destroyed, re-homed or returned to its owner.
Full details were not provided as to why the animal has been kept in kennels for so long, with the force insisting that it was ‘an ongoing case’.
The costs of upholding the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act have been investigated by the BBC in Radio 4’s You and Yours programme, finding that dogs suspected of being pit bull terrier types were regularly held for longer than 14 weeks.
Senior Police have said that forces in both Wales and England were having to spend £3m annually for kennels, with delays blamed on lengthy disputes over breeds in court.
Last year, over 2,000 dogs were detained, most under the Dangerous Dogs Act, according to the 29 forces of England and Wales which responded to a Freedom of Information request. Of those dogs, at least 334 were detained due to suspicion of being a dangerous breed, although not necessarily a threat or out of control.
No more details have been released regarding the Dyfed-Powys case, but the programme found it to be the longest period of detention from the data they had.
Figures show that £105,246 in kennel, veterinary and transportation fees have been paid by Dyfed-Powys Police for 53 animals since 2014.
In the same time frame, North Wales Police had paid £154,307 but the number of animals detained by that force have not been revealed.
The 1991 Act banned four types of dogs, the Pit Bull Terrier and the Japanese, Argentinian and Brazilian Mastiffs. When such a dog is found, they can then be destroyed.
The National Police Chiefs Council’s lead for dangerous dogs, Gareth Pritchard, told BBC Radio Wales’s Good Morning Wales there had been more than 30 dog related deaths in England and Wales since 2005.
Mr Pritchard, the Deputy Chief Constable for North Wales Police, said there was a ‘public safety issue’ with dangerous dogs but forces wanted to ‘speed up the process’ of dealing with cases.
“We in policing spend over £3m a year on kennelling costs and we are desperate to reduce those costs and maintain the appropriate animal welfare standards for the dogs that are in our kennels.”
South Wales Police said it does not hold any data and Gwent Police did not respond to the request for information.
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