More than 500 dog attacks were reported in Warwickshire in 2025 – more than one a day. The figures are an astonishing 181% rise since before the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, just 178 dog attacks were reported.
Figures for Coventry alone are not available but in the West Midlands – which includes Coventry – 1,325 dog attacks were reported in 2025. A number for 2019 was not available.
The figures show the number of out-of-control dog attacks causing injury that were recorded by police in each area.
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Across England and Wales there were at least 29,400 out-of-control dog attacks causing injury – more than three every hour.
Not every police force was able to provide figures for the number of dog attacks in 2019 but those that did noted an average increase of 80%.
The figures were released through a Mirror Freedom of Information request.
The Metropolitan Police in London recorded the most dog attacks last year with 2,530.
They’re followed by Greater Manchester Police with 1,678, Lancashire Police with 1,333, West Midlands Police with 1,325, and Devon & Cornwall with 1,265.
Take a look at the number of figures in your area in our interactive map:
The number of people going to A&E due to dog bites has also increased since the coronavirus pandemic.
There were 10,905 A&E admissions in England in the year ending March 2025. That was down slightly from 10,924 in 2023/24, but was still the second highest number on record.
It was up from 9,027 back in 2019/20, according to official figures from the NHS.
Dr Sam Gaines, Head of Companion Animals for the RSPCA said: “It is absolutely heartbreaking that serious bite incidents are continuing to increase – underlining that current legislation simply isn’t working and has been failing public safety for too long.
“The fact that incidents like these persist highlights that the UK Government urgently needs to adopt a different approach, towards preventing dangerous behaviours, rather than focusing on the dog’s individual breed.”
A Government spokesperson said: “The ban on XL Bullies is there to protect public safety and we expect all XL Bully owners to comply with the strict conditions.
“Ongoing dog attacks show we need to do more to protect public safety. We will continue to encourage responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog and to consider whether the current dog control rules are sufficient to ensure communities are protected.”
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