Police across the UK recorded 29,400 out-of-control dog attacks causing injury last year — an 83% rise since 2020, new figures show, as calls grow to tackle the increase in dog bite incidents.
Statistics Reveal Alarming Trend
Statistics obtained by the Daily Mirror reveal that incidents of out-of-control dog attacks resulting in injury, as recorded by police, have climbed from 16,040 in 2020 to 29,400 last year – an increase of 83 per cent. The number of assaults has continued to climb despite a prohibition on the XL bully breed, which took effect in February 2024.
Regional Breakdown
London recorded the most dog attacks in 2025, with the Metropolitan Police logging 2,530 cases. Greater Manchester Police reported the second-highest figure with 1,678 incidents.
Tragic Fatalities
Earlier this month, a three-month-old girl lost her life after being mauled by a dog. Maggie-May Ann Moody passed away on April 9 in Dormanstown, near Redcar, Cleveland. Armed officers attended the scene and shot a dog at the property, with another subsequently being put down.
In a statement released to Cleveland Police, her family said: "Maggie changed us in so many ways. She was everything to us. She gave us meaning and purpose every day, and we feel empty. As parents and a family, we have been robbed of a beautiful lifetime and memories with her. Our lives will never be the same again, she will always be in our hearts."
Two men, aged 36 and 45, along with a 31-year-old woman, were taken into custody and have since been released on conditional bail.
Two further individuals have lost their lives in separate dog attacks this month. A 19-year-old woman died after a dog attacked her at her home and she sustained serious traumatic injuries to her neck, an inquest has heard. Jamie-Lea Biscoe was found by her father in an upstairs bedroom at the property in the village of Leaden Roding, Essex.
Separately, a man was arrested after a woman in her 70s died following an attack by two dogs at a property in Wolverhampton on April 15.
