Cornwall Council’s Dog Welfare and Enforcement team has been awarded a RSPCA Gold Community Animal Welfare Footprint Award for the high quality way in which the council handles stray dogs.

This is the fourth time the team has been handed the accolade, which recognises that Council Cornwall has put in place clear procedures to deal with stray dogs including the treatment and welfare of dogs whilst in the council’s care, re-homing policies, and proactive action to reduce stray dog numbers whilst providing a cost effective service.

Each year the team deals with approximately 1200 stray dogs and works with a number of re-homing charities to rehome around 150 unclaimed stray dogs each year.

It also handles dog welfare issues, noise complaints in relation to dog barking and dog fouling complaints. An up to date list of stray dogs that have been found is now also available on the council’s website.

Cornwall Council community protection manager, Lynn Carter said: “Allowing your dog to roam puts it at risk of injury or causing injury to other animals or people as well as causing a nuisance by fouling whilst unaccompanied. Our dog welfare and enforcement team routinely deal with dogs straying in public areas, and will pick up any unaccompanied dog in order to minimise the problems they cause.

"It is vital that dog owners are responsible for their dogs and keep them under proper control as well as having a collar/ID – this is a legal requirement and also means they can be reunited more quickly if they do escape.

"Any dog that is dealt with as a stray incurs expense to the owner including a release fee and kennelling charge as well as an additional charge if your dog is found out of hours – all of which must be paid before any dog is released.

Having your dog tagged and micro chipped means you can be reunited as quickly as possible and minimises charges. I am delighted that the hard work that the officers carry out has been recognised for the fourth year in a row”.

From 2016 it will be a legal requirement that all dogs are micro-chipped. The Council is offering totally free micro-chipping for all dogs until March 2015. If you would like to arrange a free chip, call 0300 1234 212.

Anyone finding a stray dog is required to inform the Council or if you wish to report a problem relating to dogs such as fouling, please contact the Dog Welfare and Enforcement Service on 0300 1234 212.