Stray dogs

What should I do if I find a stray dog?

The law says you must:

  • return the dog to its owner
  • contact us and advise where you found it

To report a stray, contact us on either of the following telephone numbers: 

01283 595795 - weekdays between 9am and 5pm
01332 912642 - out of hours including bank holidays 

Back to top

What happens to the stray dogs?

We employ a local kennelling company to pick up and kennel all stray dogs on our behalf. We aim to get to all reported strays within four hours of the report.

We collect and rehome approximately 200 stray dogs a year, at a cost to you, the taxpayer, of approximately £25,000 a year.

On average, we rehome 98% of these dogs. Regrettably we do sometimes have to have dogs put down, usually on a vet’s advice or where the dog is too aggressive to safely rehome. 

Back to top

Can I adopt a stray dog?

You must inform the warden or contact our kennels and tell them that you would like to adopt the dog and provide them with your contact details and details of the dog.

We must give the owner seven days to come forward to claim the dog. If the owner does not claim the dog, then we can offer it for rehoming. Regulations require that we make appropriate enquiries to make sure that you are a suitable person to keep the dog. 

Details of all strays are updated online as soon as possible and our kennel providers immediately start looking to rehome a dog once it arrives with them. We also use our Facebook page to rehome stray dogs.

Back to top