Costs of Animal Abuse

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FIN/26/004764/P

Version Date: 01/07/2026

The Alliance Finance Department, the Performance Analysis Department and the Local Policing Team have provided the following information:

1. The total recorded costs incurred by the force in responding to and investigating animal-related crimes, including:
   - the cost of officer time spent responding to incidents and carrying out investigations
   - costs associated with gathering evidence (e.g. statements, site visits, seizure support)
      - use of specialist units (e.g. rural crime or wildlife crime officers/teams)
      - custody-related costs where suspects are detained
   
   The Alliance Finance Department has confirmed that no information is held regarding animal-related crimes. These costs would be covered as business as usual and not separatley recorded on our systems.
2. The total recorded volume of police activity relating to animal-related crimes, such as:
   - number of incidents

 The following table shows the number of incidents from Storm which had the disposal 'animals / wildlife'.

   - recorded offences

The following table shows, from Niche, the incidents above that resulted in a having crime stats classification description applied.

The following table shows crimes from Niche which have the occurrence type description of 'animals/wildlife'.

- use of specialist wildlife or rural crime officers

Searches were completed within the Performance Analysis Team and the Local Policing Team and this resulted in no recorded information being held.

3. Total costs recovered, or liable to be recovered, for recorded animal-related crimes, including:
   - whether any of these costs are recoverable from offenders (e.g. through court orders)
   - any income received related to enforcement activity (if applicable)
    - any information on the proportion of liable costs that is not recovered
   
   Please see answer to question 1.

If exact financial data is not held, I would be grateful for any proxy measures (e.g. officer time, incident counts) or relevant internal documents that provide insight into the resource impact.

Please provide the above information for the following financial years: 2023/24 (01/04/2023 - 31/03/2024), 2024/25 (01/04/2024 - 31/03/2025), 2025/26 (01/04/2025 - 31/03/2026).