Councils Pick Up 11 Strays An Hour

[safneo]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20080903...ur-6323e80.html

 

'Almost 100,000 stray dogs were picked up by local authorities last year, according to a report by the Dogs Trust.

 

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The charity estimates 96,892 dogs were taken in by councils in the UK in 2007 - the equivalent of 11 an hour. Its Stray Dogs Report said an estimated 6,710 of them were destroyed for want of a home, or because of ill-health or aggression.

 

While the number of stray dogs is lower than in previous years, Dogs Trust chief executive Clarissa Baldwin said the figure was still far too high and showed pets were being treated as "throwaway commodities".

 

The Dogs Trust is urging people who are looking for a new dog to visit their local rescue centre and consider re-homing a stray - rather than splashing out on a "retail rover".

 

Research by GfK NOP on behalf of the trust and based on responses by 80% of the UK's 432 local authorities found the number of stray dogs picked up had fallen by an estimated 8% on the previous year.

 

The number of dogs put to sleep dropped 15%, although one was destroyed every 80 minutes, according to the Dogs Trust. But 30% of strays were reunited with their owners because of microchips implanted in the animal which contain details of its owner.

 

Mrs Baldwin said: "This is the first year that the number of stray dogs has dropped below 100,000. But this is still far too high a figure - it's 6,000 more than the number of seats at Wembley. For a nation of so-called animal lovers, it is unacceptable that pets are being treated as throwaway commodities. Dog ownership is a privilege, not a right."

 

She said the Dogs Trust ran campaigns on education, neutering and microchipping to try and address the problem, and the number of stray dogs had dropped gradually in the past 10 years.

 

"However, the onus remains on owners to accept their responsibility. Get your dog neutered and microchipped and ensure he is wearing an ID tag so that if he is lost he can be reunited with you more easily," she said.

 

The Dogs Trust, which never destroys a healthy dog in its care, looks after 16,000 dogs a year through its network of 17 rehoming centres.'

 

I assume this is just info based on Dogs trust figures so what are the real figures

[Paul]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20080903...ur-6323e80.html

I assume this is just info based on Dogs trust figures so what are the real figures

They used an independant research company to obtain the figures, I assume by contacting all councils

BBC news

[ReikiAnge]

They used an independant research company to obtain the figures, I assume by contacting all councils

 

I've read that on previous years not every council responded, so assumed the real pts figures are actually higher than given - plus it won't include some of the greys pts due to the racing industry.

 

I'm glad it's fallen but it's still shocking and unacceptable

[Paul]

I've read that on previous years not every council responded, so assumed the real pts figures are actually higher than given - plus it won't include some of the greys pts due to the racing industry.

I wondered this too but I guess the information could be obtained using the FOI act? There must be thousands of dogs that don't make the official list, as you say greys and presumably many hundreds of foxhounds that are shot in the head once they are too slow to keep up with the hunt? I've just spent 30 minutes googling for a figure and found numerous reports of dogs being shot due to injury, killed on railway lines or drowned when they fell through ice, as best I can tell it's between 5000 to 10000 a year

[Gog Magog]

We received the DT survey and filled it in as we do every year. It's true not every council does (but I would say quite a few do), it doesn't count ex-racing greys (Greyhound action calculate that figure to be more like 20000 a year) nor does it include dogs that may have moved from the pounds to rescues where they are put down - not every rescue is non-destruct. It also is wildly inaccurate I'm sure as it can't include accurate police figures because they don't have any! Bit of a sweeping statement maybe but when the LAs were to take over from the police in april I spoke to nearly 20 different councils to find out if what their police figures were - most hadn't been able to get figures out of them, some had put in FOI and got back bizarre numbers that they were told off the record were totally made up!

 

Perhaps next year's survey may be a litte more accurate now LAs have total responsibility for strays but I think this figure really is the tip of the iceberg. should also mention that at recent seminars, every dog warden i've spoken to has said their stray numbers are very much on the increase and the rescues are rehoming LESS so its more difficult to find places. especially if that stray is a staffie...

ali

 

edited to add -apologies for appalling grammer, I'm off work with a bad back and am a bit doped up!! hope it made sense

Edited September 3, 2008 by Gog Magog

[minniemoo]

The sad thing is you only have to look at all the adverts with people selling dogs/puppies then add in to the equation all the rescue dogs to realise that there are more dogs out there than good homes.

 

The government is reactive in terms of animal welfare so there is more focus on legislation around 'dangerous dogs' and dogs causing nuisance as opposed to educating the general public on dog/animalcare, and placing some restrictions on breeders and the puppy farms would help!

 

It breaks my heart to go to the local pound and you just know the majority of this weeks pick ups will be unclaimed and sometimes all are put to sleep despite the best efforts of those involved in caring for them.

[Helly]

still way way too easy for people to just have the one litter and sell them in free ads and realise there is a few quid to be made and do it again and again... if only the numpties buying dogs would quit doing so from free ads, and go to rescues or at least proper breeders instead