Fatal dog attacks in England are measured in single figures per year. An increasing number of serious dog attacks (both fatal and non-fatal) was the catalyst for the

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting or restricting certain types of dogs and codifying the criminal offence of allowing a dog of any breed to be dangerously out of control. After eleven horr ...

, which banned four breeds:

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

, Japanese Tosa,

Dogo Argentino The Dogo Argentino (plural Dogos Argentinos) is an Argentinian breed of large dog of mastiff type. It was bred in the early twentieth century in Córdoba in central Argentina, primarily for dog-fighting, but also for hunting large game such a ...

and

Fila Brasileiro The Fila Brasileiro () is a Brazilian breed of large working dog of mastiff type. It is used as a guard dog, for cattle herding and for big-game hunting; it may also be kept as a companion dog or pet. In the eighteenth century, when slavery was ...

. A 2021 study of fatal dog attacks in Europe during the period 1995–2016 placed

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(with 56 fatalities) as fourth in the top five countries for number of human fatalities alongside Hungary (#1), France (#2), Romania (#3), and Poland (#5). The study also found that fatal dog attacks have been increasing significantly over time which was not attributable to the increase in number of dogs, and stated "The numbers of fatalities are indeed a very small tip of the 'dog attack iceberg', and the number of dog attacks that lead to hospitalizations of the victim outnumber fatalities by several orders of magnitude."

Summary counts of fatalities by year

From the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for th ...

(ONS) (England and Wales 1981–2015): From

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

(England & Wales 2005–2017):

Pre-2000

2000–2009

2010–2019

2020–2023

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dog attacks in the United Kingdom Deaths due to dog attacks Canid attacks Dogs in the United Kingdom