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Lost or stray dogs

All dogs must be microchipped and contact details for the owner kept up to date. By law your dog must always wear a collar and tag with your contact details on it.

If we find a stray dog

All dogs will be taken to kennels while we try to locate the owner. We will always attempt to contact the owner using the details found on the microchip and tag so it is essential that these are kept up to date. 

Dogs will be looked after for up to seven days at kennels and the owner will be charged for all expenses incurred. The owner will be responsible for collecting their dog from kennels, but this can only be done once fees have been paid.

Due to availability of kennel space, dogs will be kennelled outside of North Somerset. 

If a dog isn't claimed in seven days, it will be rehomed. Healthy dogs are never destroyed unless they present a danger to the public.

If you find a stray dog

During normal office hours call our dog warden service to report a stray dog. For other non-urgent enquiries please email us.

Council Connect - dog warden service

Outside normal office hours you can report a stray dog to our CCTV team. They will take details and where necessary ask our contractor to contact you or the owner.

CCTV - out of hours

Our contractor will only respond to a stray dog which has been caught. They won’t respond to a dog that has been involved in a road traffic accident – this needs to be reported to the RSPCA.

If a stray dog is on the motorway please report it to Highways England.