Staffies are most popular dog breed

Around 3,800 Staffordshire Bull Terriers were electronically tagged across the Wakefield (WF) postcodes in the past decade, BBC research shows.

Labrador Retrievers were in second place with 3,500 registrations, while Jack Russell Terriers, Lhasa Apsos and German Shepherds made up the top five pack – with 2,900, 2,100 and 1,800 registrations respectively.

Across the UK, Labrador Retrievers were named the most popular dog breed. The data was taken from Petlog and Animalcare, two of the UK’s three biggest microchipping firms, covering about 60 per cent of all dogs in the country.

Crossbreeds were excluded as these are the most popular dog in all postcodes, and have numerous permutations. According to the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association, which carries out an annual pet population survery, about 25 per cent of all UK households own a dog – rougly 8.5m.

From 2016, it becomes the legal responsibility of all owners in England to chip their pet. Microchips contain a unique code which, when scanned, brings up the owner’s contact details.

The government wants to bring this measure in because every very year more than 100,000 dogs are dumped at a cost of £57m to the taxpayer and animal welfare charities.