GfK NOP Stray Dog Survey 2007 A report prepared for: Dogs Trust Provided by: GfK NOP Social Research Your contact: Lisa Endersbee, Senior Research Executive Phone: +44 (0)20 7890 9865, Fax: +44 (0)20 7890 9744 e-Mail:[email protected] GfK NOP Table of Contents 1 Introduction ...........................................................................................3 1.1 Background and Methodology ............................................................ 3 1.2 Objectives ........................................................................................ 4 1.3 Definition of Regions ......................................................................... 4 1.4 Interpretation of the data .................................................................. 4 2 Summary of Findings .............................................................................5 2.1 The Number of Stray Dogs Handled ................................................... 5 2.2 Seizing Stray Dogs ............................................................................ 7 2.3 What Happens to the UK’s Stray Dogs? .............................................. 7 2.4 Ways in Which Dogs are Returned to Owners ..................................... 9 3 Conclusions ......................................................................................... 10 4 Regional Summaries ........................................................................... 11 4.1 North East ...................................................................................... 12 4.2 North West ..................................................................................... 12 4.3 Yorkshire ........................................................................................ 12 4.4 Midlands ......................................................................................... 13 4.5 Wales and the West ........................................................................ 13 4.6 East and Anglia ............................................................................... 14 4.7 London ........................................................................................... 14 4.8 Southern ........................................................................................ 14 4.9 South West..................................................................................... 15 4.10 Borders .......................................................................................... 15 4.11 Northern Scotland ........................................................................... 15 4.12 Central Scotland ............................................................................. 16 4.13 Northern Ireland ............................................................................. 16 5 Campaign Region Analysis .................................................................. 17 5.1 Year on year changes within the Campaign regions........................... 17 5.2 Comparisons between Campaign Regions ......................................... 18 5.3 Comparisons by Country.................................................................. 18 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................1 Appendix A: Authorities by Region ................................................................1 5.4 TV Region ........................................................................................ 1 5.5 Campaign Regions ............................................................................ 7 Appendix B: Questionnaire, Covering Letters and Tabulations ......................9 GfK NOP, London, July 2007, Job no. 451338 2 GfK NOP 1 Introduction 1.1 Background and Methodology Dogs Trust commissions an annual survey of local authority dog wardens and environmental health officers in order to investigate the state of the nation’s dogs. In 2007, GfK NOP Social Research were again chosen to conduct this survey. An initial telephone sweep of Local Authorities to update contact details and collect email addresses was carried out on the 18th & 19th of April. Postal questionnaires and an initial email invitation were sent to named individuals within 432 local authorities with responsibility for environmental health in the UK on the 1st May 2007. There was also an option of completing the survey on the web. Following postal, email and telephone reminders, 343 questionnaires had been returned by 20th July 2007, giving a response rate of 79%. 1.1.1 Table 1: Response Rates TV Region Authorities Re- Total Authorities Response rate % sponding North East 24 26 92% North West 26 38 68% Yorkshire 18 21 86% Midlands 58 75 77% Wales and West 27 32 84% East & Anglia 29 38 76% London 46 70 66% Southern 38 46 83% South West 20 22 91% Borders 8 8 100% Northern Scotland 7 9 78% Central Scotland 18 21 86% Northern Ireland 24 26 92% Total 343 432 79% GfK NOP, London, July 2007, Job no. 451338 3 GfK NOP 1.2 Objectives This survey aims to give information about the number of stray dogs that Local Authorities have become involved with, and the methods that they have used towards stray dogs. Data is collated at both a national and a regional level. The questionnaire also asked about the ways in which dogs were reunited with their owners. Comparisons are made with previous surveys where appropriate. 1.3 Definition of Regions The findings are analysed according to the 13 ITV Regions throughout the UK. The definitions are as follows: North East (Tyne Tees), North West (Granada), Yorkshire, Midlands (Central), Wales and West (Harlech or HTV), East and Anglia (Anglia), London (LWT/ Carlton), Southern (Meridian), South West (West Country), Border, Northern Scotland (Grampian), Central Scot- land (STV), and Northern Ireland (UTV). 1.4 Interpretation of the data The key findings from this survey are based on numbers collected for each authority (e.g. the number of strays). We have gone on to make estimates for each TV Region based on the assumption that authorities responding are representative of authorities as a whole. GfK NOP, London, July 2007, Job no. 451338 4 GfK NOP 2 Summary of Findings 2.1 The Number of Stray Dogs Handled Based on the 343 authorities who responded to this survey, an estimated 105,068 stray dogs were handled by local councils from 1st April 2006 to 31st March 2007. This represents a 3% increase from the estimate of 101,586 dogs handled last year. 2.1.1 Chart 1: The Number of Stray Dogs in the UK Since 1997 140000 136500 135000 133500 130000 122000 120000 117500 113500 111000 110000 105000 105000 105000 100000 102000 90000 80000 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Year Using 2001 census data, we can estimate how many people there are in the population for each stray dog. In the last year, on average, the local authorities across the UK handled 1 stray for every 559 people. However, there is significant regional variation. For instance, in the London Television Region local authorities on average dealt with one stray dog for every 1,206 people. In Northern Ireland, there is on average of only 151 people per stray dog reported by Local Authorities. GfK NOP, London, July 2007, Job no. 451338 5 GfK NOP 2.1.2 Table 2: Estimated Number of People Per Stray Dog by TV Region Actual number Estimated TV Region of Strays Re- Authorities Strays per number of ported Responding authority people per 05-06 stray dog North East 5679 24 237 494 North West 8223 26 316 523 Yorkshire 5974 18 332 669 Midlands 13711 58 236 572 Wales and West 11664 27 432 312 East & Anglia 4423 29 153 703 London 6156 46 134 1206 Southern 6545 38 172 680 South West 3686 20 184 557 Borders 1104 8 138 630 Northern Scotland 1501 7 214 549 Central Scotland 4453 18 247 733 Northern Ireland 10303 24 429 151 UK Total 83,422 343 243 559 The regional differences in the number of stray dogs reported by different authorities will reflect a number of factors, including the overall population and the number of dogs owned. GfK NOP, London, July 2007, Job no. 451338 6 GfK NOP 2.2 Seizing Stray Dogs Local authorities played the most important part in seizing stray dogs, as in previous years. The proportion of stray dogs brought in by the general public has remained the same this year as last year (18%), while the proportion seized by Local Authorities has fallen slightly from 70% to 69%. However, the absolute number of stray dogs reported has increased in this time. We can estimate that approximately 7,340 dogs were brought to Local Authorities by the Police across the UK. This is lower than last year’s estimate (8,601), and represents approximately 7% of the total number of strays in 2006 - 2007. 2.2.1 Chart 2: How Strays were brought to the Local Authority 90% 78% 78% 77% 77% 80% 77% 75% 73% 73% 71% 70% 69% 70% 60% 50% LA 40% Public Proportion of Dogs Other 30% 19% 18% 20% 17% 15% 14% 15% 18% 13% 12% 12% 11% 13% 10% 12% 10% 11% 11% 10% 10% 10% 10% 9% 9% 0% 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Year 2.3 What Happens to the UK’s Stray Dogs? Just over half of stray dogs (51%) were reunited with their owners in 2006-2007. Approximately one in three (35%) of all stray dogs reported are reclaimed within the seven day statutory local authority kennelling period, with a further 16% of all stray dogs returned to the owner without kennelling. The proportion of stray dogs being put to sleep has risen this year. This year 6,266 stray dogs were put to sleep by authorities taking part in this survey, and from this we can estimate that approximately