Behavioural euthanasia: what the UK stray dog survey tells us

Latest report update, 12 October 2026

The newer Dogs Trust report covers 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. Responding local authorities recorded 2,019 dogs put to sleep. Dogs Trust estimated approximately 3,374 across UK local authority care.

Among cases with a known reason, 457 were attributed to behavioural issues, representing 37% of that group. Reasons were unknown for around 40% of dogs put to sleep. The 37% must not be applied to the national estimate to calculate behavioural deaths.

These findings concern dogs entering local authority care. They do not establish whether a training tool caused or could have prevented a death. Changing participating authorities and missing data also limit comparisons between years.

Source: Dogs Trust Stray Dog Survey 2024 to 2025, section 2.4, printed page 7.

Earlier report: 2023 to 2024

The historical figures and correction below are retained with their original reporting period.

Evidence review | Dogs Trust Stray Dog Survey 2023 to 2024

Behavioural euthanasia is a serious welfare issue. It deserves careful attention to the dogs involved, the support available to their owners and the limits of the evidence. The Dogs Trust Stray Dog Survey offers useful information about dogs handled by UK local authorities. It does not measure every dog in the UK, and it does not establish that any particular training method or policy caused an outcome.

What the survey recorded

For the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, the 225 local authorities providing data reported 1,478 dogs put to sleep. Dogs Trust estimated that around 2,493 dogs entering local authority care were put to sleep across the UK. The second figure is a national estimate, not a count of all dogs put to sleep for any reason in the UK.

Where a reason was known among responding authorities, 369 dogs were recorded as put to sleep for behavioural issues, 225 for ill health and 212 under the Dangerous Dogs Act. Dogs Trust reports that the reason was unknown for around 40% of dogs put to sleep. Behaviour was the largest of those recorded categories, but the unknown cases matter. The 42% behavioural figure applies only to cases with a known reason. It cannot be applied to the estimated national total to claim a reliable number of behavioural deaths across the UK.

What the survey cannot tell us

The survey does not show why an individual dog’s behaviour developed, which interventions were tried, whether suitable help was available or whether a different approach would have changed the outcome. It cannot tell us that restrictions on any training tool caused these deaths, nor that access to a tool would have prevented them. Those questions require other evidence and careful case review.

NAPET’s view

NAPET believes behavioural problems should be taken seriously before they become a crisis. Owners and dogs benefit from timely, competent support, clear professional standards and honest discussion of welfare, safety and risk. Training decisions should be made for the individual dog and circumstances, with appropriate knowledge and accountability.

NAPET supports an evidence led and proportionate discussion of training options, including specialist tools such as electronic collars. That position is distinct from what the Dogs Trust survey measured. We will not use these figures to claim that a particular tool prevents euthanasia. We will use them to keep attention on the need for better information, professional competence and practical support for dogs and owners.

Source: Dogs Trust, Stray Dog Survey report 2023 to 2024, sections 1.2 and 2.4. Read the survey.

Correction note: This article replaces an earlier version that applied percentages for known reasons to a national estimate. Those calculations did not use a consistent denominator and have been removed. Data and wording checked on 29 September 2026.