346 No of complaints of special type ‘organised fighting’ involving a dog(a),(b) Total numbers of dogs involved in complaints reported(b) Total number of convictions secured in court by the RSPCA under s8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006(c) (a) 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 493 601 461 435 421 495 440 491 512 506 Total 4,855 1,335 1,418 979 1,092 1,068 1,205 1,201 1,136 1,390 1,389 12,213 n/a 10 28 18 23 13 28 137 These are the number of complaints from the public to the RSPCA national call centre The RSPCA makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of data but it is acknowledged that due to reporting and updating methods some of these reports of dog fighting may very occasionally relate to organised fighting of other species, such as cockfighting or badger baiting Some incidents involving dog fighting may also be omitted from the figures if for example they were reported direct from the police to the RSPCA Special Operations Unit and not from the public via the national call line In addition, where others have sought to publish RSPCA data they may have failed to appreciate the difference between numbers of offenders and numbers of convictions, or they may inadvertently be including other fighting offences (b) ‘Complaints reported’ can have any number of outcomes including prosecution and welfare advice, but may also include those where, upon looking into them, the RSPCA could not find evidence to take further action, or where there was no cause for concern (c) The Animal Welfare Act 2006 came into force in March (Wales) and April (England) 2007 and as such offences occurring before that date may have been prosecuted under previous legislation This data is not currently available These convictions also relate to the possession of dog fighting paraphernalia and associated equipment C Lawson Table Total dog fighting complaints and convictions recorded by the RSPCA from 2006–2015