If you find and contain a stray dog during the day, phone us to tell us about it. We’ll arrange to collect the dog from you – our officers collect stray dogs reported to us between 8am and 3pm, Monday to Friday.
If you find and contain a stray dog outside our office hours or on the weekend, please keep it overnight and contact us on the next working day.
We can only collect a stray that you have contained. We do not have the capacity to chase loose dogs.
Alternatively, if you are unable to keep a stray dog overnight until we can collect it, you can take the dog to Woodgreen Pets Charity. Contact them first on 0300 303 9333 between 8am and 4.30pm, or 07775 847752 at other times.
Missing dogs
If your dog goes missing, contact us to find out whether we have picked it up following a report of it as a stray.
We also advise you to contact Woodgreen Pets Charity to check whether somebody has taken your dog there.
If we have not picked up your dog, we’ll add its description to our register of lost dogs and will contact you if we do find it. Give us as many details as possible about the dog and where it was last seen.
We do not go out to search for missing dogs.
You can advertise lost dogs on websites including Animal Search UK, Dog Lost, and the National Pet Register.
Claim a stray dog
If we pick up your dog following reports of it being a stray, we are entitled to charge you for all incurred expenses, including one or more of the following:
- Statutory fee (mandatory): £25 per dog
- Kennelling charges: £20 per dog per night
- Transport charge to Woodgreen Pets Charity (in office hours): £82
- Kennelling administration cost: £64 per dog
You will also have to pay for any emergency veterinary treatments that were administered if your dog was ill or injured when we picked it up.
You are required by law to pay these charges before we will release your dog to you. To claim your dog, contact us on 01223 457000 and ask for ‘Environmental Services’. We will help you make the payment and complete the release paperwork. We cannot make payment plans for stray dog charges.
If a stray dog is unclaimed after seven days, it will become the property of Woodgreen Pets Charity. They assess and, where possible, find suitable homes for all unclaimed dogs.
