Dogs left in hot vehicles

8th May 2025

Our Ref: FOI2025/03001

Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Ref No: FOI2025/03001

I write in connection with your request for information received on 7th April.  I note you seek access to the following information:

I am submitting this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding reports of dogs being left in hot vehicles or vehicles on hot days. Please provide the following information:

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.

The number of incidents where police officers attended the scene.

The number of cases that resulted in enforcement action, such as warnings, fines, or prosecutions.

I am required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (The Act) to handle all requests in a manner that is blind to the identity of the requestor. Any information released in response to a request is regarded as being published and therefore, in the public domain without caveat.

Response - Following enquiries within the Constabulary please see our response below.

We have provided approximate figures for dogs in hot car type incidents. This is not a specific incident type, so figures are approximate as to find them the search has to rely on a combination of incident class being Animal or concern for welfare related, and also mentioning ‘dog’ and either ‘car’ or ‘vehicle’ and also some reference to heat or temperature or breaking windows etc.

We cannot answer ‘If recorded, how many of these reports specifically mentioned high temperatures or concerns about heat’ as to find these incidents the query has to search for references to heat or temperatures.

The numerical data presented in this response is an un-audited snapshot of un-published data sourced from "live" systems and is subject to the interpretation of the original request by the individual extracting the data.