Over 400 stray dogs seized by Rochdale Council

Between April 1 2012 and March 31 2013, Rochdale Council and its dog warden service seized 428 stray dogs, with only 134 of them being returned to their owners.

Between that same time period, the council spent a total of £60,289 on the dog warden service. It is understood that the dog warden service is funded by the Public Prosecution Service within the council's Economy and Environment department.

Private company, Animal Wardens Ltd works on behalf of the council to collect the stray dogs. They collect any stray dogs on the streets of Rochdale. All stray dogs are then scanned for a microchip and the owner is contacted. If all information is up-to-date and correct, wherever possible, dogs are returned to their owners.

If the owner of the dog is not known, dogs are taken to Manchester Dogs Home where they are kept on behalf of the council.

Under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, when a stray dog is picked up, local authorities are only obligated to keep them for seven days. If after seven days, the dogs are unclaimed and no suitable safe place can be found for them, they are often destroyed, regardless of their health or age.

The stray dogs survey by the Dogs Trust estimated that there were over 16,000 stray dogs across local authorities in the North West during 2012. This was reported as the second highest of any region.

A spokesperson for Rochdale council said: “All stray dogs in Rochdale are taken care of by Animal Wardens Ltd on behalf of the council. The dogs are scanned to see if they have a chip which identifies who the owner is and they are contacted if the details are up-to-date.

"If the owner is not known the dogs are taken to Manchester Dogs Home, where they are kept on behalf of the council for the statutory minimum of seven days and are scanned again.

"At this point, many dogs are reunited with their owners. Between 2012 and 2013, 428 stray dogs were seized by the dog warden service. Of these, 134 dogs were immediately reunited with their owners.”