FOI/202600502351 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Dog control notices: EIR release
Information requested
“Following the establishment of the national Dog Control Notice database in February 2022, pursuant to the Scottish Dog Control Database Order 2021 which came into force on December 31 2021, please provide the following information covering the 32 Scottish Local Authorities for calendar years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025:
1/ How many current DCNs have been issued by each LA 2/ How many have been discharged”
Response
As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
Response to your request
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the this letter.
However, you may wish to contact the Improvement Service at dcn@improvementservice.org.uk who may be able to help you.
The reason why we cannot provide the information you have requested is:
The national DCN database is not owned by the Scottish Government nor does the Scottish Government have direct access to the database.
The DCN regime is operated by local authorities. Information requested on the number of DCNs issued by each local authority per calendar year is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Similarly the information requested on the number of DCNs discharged per calendar year is also not held centrally by the Scottish Government
However, Scottish Government officials do receive weekly updates from the Improvement Service on the current number of DCNs issued, as well as the number of DCNs that have been discharged.
The table attached as an Annex to this letter provides that current data, as at 12 January 2026.
To provide some further background on the national DCN database, the Scottish Government commissioned the Improvement Service to take forward work to design and create the national DCN database in 2021.
As you are aware, The Scottish Dog Control Database Order 2021 came into force on 31 December 2021 and provided for the establishment of the national DCN database. The national DCN database has been operational since February 2022.
The Scottish Dog Control Database Order 2021 restricts access to the national DCN database to only those with reason to require access to the information held for the purposes of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010.
This is local authorities and Police Scotland (constables and civilian staff), plus those working for the Improvement Service. This does not include the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Dog Control Database Order 2021 also sets out that the Improvement Service will manage the national DCN database. All 32 local authorities are able to upload details of served DCNs, with Police Scotland granted ‘view only’ access to reflect their lack of direct involvement in the DCN regime, whilst acknowledging information on the database may be helpful to Police Scotland for the dangerous dogs law enforcement role.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.