Jersey Dogs Law and licences (FOI)

Request

This question is about the administration by any or all public authorities of the Dogs (Jersey) Law 1961 ('the law') and the Dogs (Licence Fee) (Jersey) Order 2019 (the order):

A

Pursuant to Article 4(3) of the law, how many licences are currently in issue across all twelve parishes in the land?

B

Pursuant to Article 5(1) of the law, how many persons in the last five years have been prosecuted for not having a licence, and how many persons have paid a double fee in order to escape prosecution?

C Pursuant to Article 7 of the law, in the last three years how many stray dogs on the highway or in a public place have been seized by a police officer, and with what outcome?

D

How many citizens have been prosecuted in the last ten years under Article 8(2) of the law?

E

Pursuant to the order, what was the total revenue received from licence fees in each of the last five years?

F

For each of the last five years, what was the sum of resource allocation by the Government and the twelve parishes (people and money and overheads and capital) for proper administration of the law and the order; and for each year, by parish, how did this compare with income received from the issuance of licences?

G

Please provide copies of reports and relevant reportage by the government and parishes since 2010 on the effficacy and value of the law.

Response

A

The information requested is not held by the Government of Jersey. Article 10 of the Freedom in Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies. Your enquiry is best directed to the Parishes, details for which are included below.

B

Please see the ‘no dog licence’ tab on the attached spreadsheet. The Government of Jersey does not hold information on “double fees”. Article 10 of the Freedom in Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies. Your enquiry is best directed to the Parishes. 

Spreadsheet.xlsx

C

Please see the ‘loose or stray dogs’ tab on the attached spreadsheet. 

D

Article 8 of the Dogs (Jersey) Law 1961 reads as follows: 

Duty of persons taking possession of stray dogs

(1)     Where any person takes possession of a dog which he or she has reason to believe is a stray dog, he or she shall forthwith either –

(a)     return the dog to its owner; or

(b)     notify a police officer that he or she has found the dog and give his or her name and address to the officer, and if he or she does not desire to keep the dog, the dog shall be treated as if it were a stray dog seized by the officer in pursuance of Article 7.

(2)     If any person fails to comply with the provisions of this Article, he or she shall be guilty of an offence.

There have been no prosecutions in the last ten years under Art.8(2) of the law. 

E to G

The Government of Jersey does not hold this information. Article 10 of the Freedom in Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies. The Parishes may be able to assist. 

Contact details for Parish FOI requests:

FOI@comite.je

Or by post to:

Parish FOI, East Wing, RJA & HS, Trinity, JE3 5JP

Further information about making an FOI request to the parishes is available as follows:

How to Make an FOI request – Comité des Connétables (comite.je) 

Article applied

Article 10 - Obligation of scheduled public authority to confirm or deny holding Information

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), if –

(a) a person makes a request for information to a scheduled public authority; and

(b) the authority does not hold the information, it must inform the applicant accordingly.