Environment and Planning >> Animal Nuisance

Stray Dogs

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Introduction

For many years the Council has shared the responsibility for collecting and detaining stray dogs with the Sussex Police.  However, from April 2008 only the Council have statutory responsibilities for dealing with strays.

From 1st April 2008 the Council has appointed a national company called Animal Wardens Ltd to provide our stray dog control services.  Animal Wardens Ltd already provide dog control services to a number of other Councils throughout the country.

Animal Wardens Ltd will deal with calls direct from Hastings residents and dog owners via their national call centre.

Animal Wardens staff will pick up stray dogs from members of the public, transport them to holding kennels, where possible reunite them with the owners, or where this is not possible within 7 days of seizure, rehome the dogs with new owners.

On behalf of the Council and in accordance with the law relating to stray dogs, Animal Wardens Ltd staff are authorised to charge dog owners for the return of their dogs, using a scale of fees agreed with the Council.  In accordance with the law, stray dogs will not be returned to their owners unless the Council's reasonable costs for transportation, kennelling and veterinary/animal health type costs are paid in full in advance to Animal Wardens Ltd.

A dog seized as a stray will be held in kennel facilities for at least seven days to give the owner time to come forward to collect their pet, after payment of the relevant fees.  After seven days, if the dog remains unclaimed, ownership is officially transferred to the Council, and the dog can be rehomed.  We have a duty of care to any stray dogs collected, and veterinary/animal health advice may be sought for any animal which is ill, distressed or presents a danger.

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If You Lose Your Dog

Although your dog should at all times be under control accidents can happen. There are a number of simple steps that you can take to try and minimise the risk of losing your dog:

• Make sure your dog has a name tag showing your address and telephone number.  The law insists on this under the Control of Dogs Act 1992.
• Have your dog micro-chipped.  It's very simple for our contractor to read the information stored on the chip and the dog can be speedily returned to you.  Please remember that your dog still needs to wear a name tag showing your name, address and if possible a contact telephone number.

From 1st April 2008 onwards if a member of the public finds and secures a stray dog they need to contact our contractors, not the Council, in order that the contractor can arrange to come and seize the dog.  This service operates 24 hours a day 7 days a week, including Bank Holidays.

If a Hastings resident loses their dog and wants to find out if it has been picked up as a stray they need to contact our contractors, not the Council, in order to find out whether our contractor has seized the dog as a stray.

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Stray Dog Costs

If you allow your dog to stray or roam free, our contractor can impound it as a stray under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. If this happens, our contractor won't return the dog to you until you've paid the following charges (which must be paid in full, not in installments):

• A statutory fee of £25.00; plus
• A variable fee relating to kenneling, veterinary or other essential animal health costs, and transportation to and from kennels and an owners house. This variable fee should be no more than £35 per day
• if an owner requires the return of their dog other than between 12 noon and 7pm there will be an additional charge of £30.00

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Contact Information

Please contact our contractors to report a stray or lost dog.

If you have a query or complaint about this contracted out service please write to our Environmental Protection service.

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