Get your dog ID’ed!

Release Date:  26-Oct-2009

Make sure your dog has ID – that’s the message from the city council’s dog warden team.

The message comes as the team are celebrating the news that they have been awarded a coveted RSPCA award for the second successive year. They have just scooped a Silver Community Animal Welfare Footprints Award thanks to their ‘firm but fair’ approach to dealing with stray dogs.

In Bristol, the team of three wardens pick up around 900 stray dogs every year. Of these, three-quarters are successfully returned to their owners, thanks to them carrying ID – either in the form of a collar and identification tag or with a microchip. The wardens carry scanners so they can quickly check to see if a dog is chipped.

But between 150-200 dogs are never matched up with owners and go to Bristol Dog and Cat Home to be re-homed.

“The majority of dogs we pick up are in good condition and have obviously just wandered off from their home,” says Mark Coombs, one of the council’s dog wardens. “It’s so easy for us to return them to their owners if they have a tag or microchip and the owners are usually overjoyed to have them safely back. There is really no excuse not to give your pet ID.”

Stray dogs can spend up to 7 days in the dogs home, while owners have the chance to claim them. There is a retrieval fee of £56 plus a daily kennel fee of around £10. This fee can be reduced by £10 if the owner agrees to have their pet microchipped – a policy the RSPCA liked. After 7 days, if the dog has still not been claimed, the council has no legal responsibility for it and it will be re-homed.

To encourage responsible ownership, the team also issue repeat offenders who frequently let their dogs run off with a fixed penalty notice of £80. In some cases, they even choose to prosecute the owner.

“There’s nothing we like better than a happy ending,” says Mark Coombs. “A joyful reunion between a dog and his owner makes the job worthwhile. But we are tough on people who don’t take their responsibility seriously – if you don’t look after your pet, you risk an £80 or even prosecution.”

To make sure your dog can be easily identified, either fit him with a collar and tag or have him micro-chipped. All vets can micro-chip dogs, as well as RSPCA and PDSA clinics and the Bristol Dogs & Cats Home. Prices vary from around £10-20.

To report a stray dog, contact the city council dog wardens on 0117 922 2500.

To find out about adopting a dog or other animal that needs re-homing, visit the Bristol RSPCA web pages.

Author:  Catherine Frankpitt, Media and PR Officer, 0117 92 23463

For all media enquiries relating to this press release, please contact Corporate Communications on 0117 922 2650.

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