Cornwall Council’s Dog Welfare team has been highly commended at the RSPCA Innovators Awards for how it is has developed its web presence and its use of social media to improve animal welfare.

The council's stray dogs web page, launched by the council in July, gives details of dogs that have been handed into the council or picked up by the council’s dog welfare team.

The page has been improved further to include photographs of the dogs and the team also use Facebook and Twitter to flag up information and advice on animal welfare issues and to publicise free dog micro chipping events.

The team has even enlisted the help of children in making a film to communicate the issues around dog fouling.

The council’s head of public protection and business support, Allan Hampshire said: “I am delighted that the team have done so well in the RSPCA Awards and this improvement to our stray dogs web pages demonstrates the commitment we have to help the owners of lost dogs to locate their pets and to overall increase the number of stray dogs that are returned to their owners.

"We do have a robust system in place for re-charging the owners of stray dogs for the costs incurred by the Council in picking up strays and arranging for them to be looked after.

"The onus has to be on dog owners to make sure that their dogs do not stray. A stray dog will foul and can potentially be a danger to road users and others. The onus is also on the owner to make sure that their dog has an id tag and is micro-chipped so that dog and owner can be reunited quickly.

"We hope that the free dog micro-chipping events we are holding in partnership with Dog’s Trust will lead to a further reduction in the number of stray dogs reported to the Council. In partnership with Dogs Trust, we are able to offer free dog micro chipping until March 2015."

To book an appointment, just call dog welfare and enforcement, on 0300 1234 212.”

The stray dog register has always been available for the public to view at any reasonable time however, it is now published as a live document, with photographs, on the council’s website and will automatically update when a new case is reported to the council. When the dog is returned to the owner or re-homed via an appropriate charity, the dog’s details will be taken off the website.

Organisations such as Dog Lost direct the owners of lost dogs to the Council’s website so that they can check to see if their dog has been reported to the Council.