Readers may wish to know that in regard to who is responsible for dealing with stray dogs in the UK, it is the Local Authority (council) where you live or are working or are on holiday and for the time being, the local Police. These two authorities have the legal duty and obligation to seize and detain dogs that are found straying. The RSPCA, Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, PDSA et al, deal with and do great work with stray dogs but only after they have already been seized by the Police or Council and have been held for the statutory seven days before they are put into the rehoming system.

Currently local councils have a statutory duty to provide an officer whose purpose is to seize and detain stray dogs in the councils area of responsibility. There is no requirement to have a 24 hour Dog Warden Service at present, although new legislation has come out and the part relating to who deals with stray dogs is going to be enacted in the near future, this may or may not result in 24 hour service provision to deal with stray dogs?

When a person finds a dog and it has no identification, finders usually telephone the local council and or the police to report finding the dog. This can sometimes result in either the police or the council having information about the loser and the dog can be easily reunited without the dog being seized as a stray dog. On other occasions. there may be no knowledge of the dogs owner, this may require the dog being seized by the local Dog Warden Service in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

If a finder indicates that they wish to hold on to the dog, the Dog Warden should visit the finder to check the dog for any form of ID, sometimes finders do not notice that a dog even has a collar on! The Dog Warden can check for a microchip or a tattoo, most importantly of all though is that if a Dog Warden does not physically visit the finder, they cannot legally seize a dog over the telephone, it is a really lazy way to deal with stray dogs and is bad practice!

Finders may give the wrong description of a dog that may already be known to be missing, this is why it is important that a Dog Warden actually goes out to visually confirm that the dog is what the finder says it is.

Although I cannot comment on what the telelphone operator advised in regard to ‘turning the dog out’, it surely cannot be a recognised procedure of that particular council? By giving out such irresponsible advice could lead to the possibility of a dog or persons being injured should there be an accident caused through a dog straying in the area?

All Dog Warden Services should operate to procedures regarding the seizure of stray animals, usually the majority of Dog Wardens will respond immediately to reports of dogs, or if they are busy they will arrange a time to collect the dog. Most Dog Warden Services at local councils employ usually one or two Dog Wardens, it is beleived that there should be one Dog Warden for every 50,000 residents of an area. sometimes there are not enough Dog Wardens working in a particular council area, but this is down to council budgets.

It is strange that the telephone operator did not advise the finder of the dog to hold on to it and a Dog Warden would attend as soon as they had dealt with the task in hand?

Ms Price the finder of the dog should not be disillusioned with the actions of this particular Council Dog Warden Service because I can assure her that it is not representative of the majority of the hardworking Dog Wardens (male and female) of the UK who will go the additional nine yards to deal with a stray dog that needs help. Also Ms Price should not confuse statutory duties and responsibilities with the work of animal charities as they are two different things entirely. She should still continue to support animal charities as they and Dog Warden Services are two entirely different things.

The police station seemed to get away with the old ‘fault on the line’ problem. Perhaps they may have been able to help Ms Price out in regard to her problem of what to do with the dog. If a member of the public takes a dog to the police station, the police should seize it in accordance with the Dogs Act 1906.

If Ms Price is not satisfied with the service provided to her and the dog on this occasion, I advise her to do what I advise members of the public who have issues with my own Dog Warden Service. She should contact the Chief Executive’s Department of the council to make an official complaint. By making a complaint, the council may amend the way they operate in regard to the advice that they give out to finders of stray dogs, which at best is potentially dangerous for both dogs and humans.

For the record, stray dogs are currently dealt with by the police (until the law changes) and local council in the area where you live or work.

(Hampshire Police is an exception as they unilaterally declared that they would no longer deal with stray dogs after 1st February 2005.)

Should you lose or find a dog I advise that you contact in the first instance the local council Dog Warden Service.

Neil Burton