Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many attacks on (1) guide dogs, and (2) other assistance dogs, were reported in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, and (c) 2018; and what penalties were imposed for such attacks.

In 2015, the Government amended section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to specifically make it an offence to allow a dog to attack an assistance dog. The maximum penalty for such an offence is three years imprisonment or an unlimited fine, or both. Information on the number of guide dog or other assistance dog attacks is not collated centrally, and information on the penalties imposed as a result of a conviction under section 3 of the Act does not specify whether the offence was specifically in relation to an assistance dog.