Dogs left in hot cars
Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FIN/25/3146
Version Date: 08/05/2025
The Performance & Analysis Department have provided the following information.
To obtain this data, we searched on both STORM incidents and Niche crime database for the following keywords: ‘dog’, ‘hot car’ and ‘car’, within the incident description and OEL entry text.
The dates for STORM are from 21st October 2020 (earliest available) to 31st December 2024 and for Niche, 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2024.
We then manually reviewed each occurrence for relevance
The number of reports received by your force about dogs being left in hot cars, broken down by year, from 2020 to 2024.
If recorded, how many of these reports specifically mentioned high temperatures or concerns about heat.
|
|
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Occurrences |
10 |
15 |
12 |
13 |
10 |
The number of incidents where police officers attended the scene.
|
Police attendance |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Yes |
5 |
6 |
7 |
9 |
6 |
|
No |
4 |
9 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
|
Not recorded |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
|
Total |
10 |
15 |
12 |
13 |
10 |
The number of cases that resulted in enforcement action, such as warnings, fines, or prosecutions.
Three of the occurrences in 2023 were recorded as offences of “Cause unnecessary suffering to a protected animal - Animal Welfare Act 2006”
All three had an outcome of Community Resolution