This chapter presents the evidence generated from the research study see Chapter One for a detailed account of the methodological challenges of undertaking research into status dogs). The findings from the literature review are documented throughout the book and the critical discourse analysis of the media has been addressed in Chapter Two. The chapter begins by setting out the secondary data sourced from a wide variety of agencies, which indicates how these organisations have identified and recorded the appearance of the phenomenon of status dogs. This desk research indicates the emergence of the phenomenon and illustrates that aggressive bull breeds play a prominent role. The second half of the chapter sets out the findings from the primary research, evidencing more clearly the existence of the status dog phenomenon and confirming the typology. There follows a brief comparative analysis of this primary research with research by Maher and Pierpoint (2011), before concluding by asking the question, do owners of status dogs exhibit a propensity for criminality, violent or aggressive behaviour?

Agency data

Data was sourced from a variety of agencies:

• • animal welfare agencies, including the RSPCA

• • the Dogs Trust

• • Metropolitan Police Service

• • hospitals

• • local authorities

• • regional government.

RSPCA

The RSPCA has been at the forefront of raising awareness of status dogs. The phenomenon was mentioned in a briefing paper (RSPCA, 2007a) and a position paper (RSPCA, 2008); two conferences on status dogs followed in 2009 and 2010. The position paper acknowledges the issue as one of antisocial behaviour (ASB), where dogs are used to intimidate/fight other dogs, but they also refer to links with crime and gang culture. The RSPCA was alerted to the issue through increased calls and complaints by the public. B1 in Appendix B indicates an increase in the number of complaints to the RSPCA concerning status and dangerous dogs from 2006 to 2009. The society reported a 12-fold increase in complaints between 2004 and 2008.

The report of proceedings from the status dogs summit in 2009 noted that ‘status dogs used in ASB are now beginning to be used in organised dog-fights’ (RSPCA, 2009). B2 in Appendix B illustrates increasing reports of youths ‘chain rolling’ dogs. The RSPCA data, while incomplete, indicate regional variations in data.