So you've lost your dog

LOST YOUR DOG? While out walking, dogs can wander off. They usually retrace their route back to where they left you but you could well have moved on. If a dog has visited the area before it usually knows the route home so it will often return home or to your car before you unless someone intercepts it. If your dog has been missing for more than 12 hours you need to start checking with the Dog Warden first,Police, vets and rescue organizations. YOU ONLY HAVE 7 DAYS You have 7 days to find your dog before it is put up for re-homing or destroyed. If you trace your dog after that time for example in a rescue center it is usually cheaper to adopt the dog since the fines will total more than the rescue are asking for it. Dog Warden West Wiltshire District Council employs a dog warden to collect any lost or stray dogs and provide general advice on dog related issues. If you have hold of a stray dog in office hours (9am - 5pm Monday - Friday) please contact the Dog Warden on 01225 776655 who may be able to collect the animal from you. If you do find a stray within office hours please contact us straight away, do not delay, as the sooner you contact us the more likely it is that we will be able to collect it. Outside of these hours you may take the dog to the Bath Cats & Dogs home by arrangement. Please phone 0845 0568035 to arrange the service. Police It is a legal requirement that a 'Found' Dog is reported to the Police, although the Police no longer take in Found or Stray Dogs. We suggest you make sure to get a Crime Number from the Police so your loss is logged on their computer. And remember that dogs come under the Sale of Goods Act and are therefore a chattel or 'good' which makes the theft of a dog equal to having your car, watch, wallet etc. stolen. VETS Vets will usually treat an injured dog if they can. They will then pass it along to their preferred Rescue Organization that could be 50-100 miles from where you lost your dog. Leave details of your dog with all the local vets and ask them where they send stray dogs. RESCUE CENTRES The Police or a member of the public may take your dog directly to a rescue center. This could be 50-100 miles from where you lost the dog. Check the yellow pages for rescue centers and leave details of your lost dog with them along with several contact numbers (home, work, mobile and/or a person who is likely to be in most of the time). Ask them for details of any other rescue organisations they know of. Don't let them put you off by saying they don't receive dogs from your area. Give them the information anyway. MICROCHIPS This system works like the registration plate on a car. The microchip is a transponder that is about the size of a grain of rice and is injected under the skin usually in the scruff of the neck. When a detector is placed near the chip it transmits an identification code. This code is then passed to Petlog (the dog version of the DVLC Swansea), they check the database and tell the finder whom to contact regarding the dog. If your dog moves house you just update the database - you don't have to remove the microchip. Most vets and many rescue centers can fit these for £15-£30. Microchips are not a substitute for a tag since very few people carry a chip reader in their pocket! If your dog ends up with a dog warden you are more likely to get it back if it is microchipped. A microchip can also be used to prove that the dog is yours if ownership is disputed. TAG YOUR DOG Make sure your dog has attached to it a tag that has on it your house and street number, your postcode, and phone numbers of people who can be contacted during the day. Tags are better than containers because containers tend to unscrew and fall off. Tags are also easier to read when wet. FOUND DOGS If your dog has been found it could be many miles away. Some people who find dogs may keep them for several weeks before deciding to hand them over to a rescue center! THINGS TO DO IF YOUR DOG IS MISSING Don't assume someone is going to find the dog and return it to you. Don't assume that the Police, Dog Warden, Vet, Rescue Organisation will inform you if they find your dog even if it does have a collar tag or micro-chip. There is no central list of lost dogs. Give the details of your dog to all the Police stations, Vets, Dog Wardens and Rescue Centers within at least a 50 mile radius of where you lost your dog. Ask at all the local newsagents and Post Offices near to where you lost the dog in case someone has mentioned it. Check with the drivers at the taxi rank. They drive around the local area day and night so are likely to see stray dogs wandering about. Make up some posters preferably with a colour photograph (find someone with a computer and colour printer or a colour photocopier). Give these to the postman and milkman in the area. They cover the area slowly so are likely to see stray dogs wandering about. If there are farms near where you lost the dog check whether your dog has been seen. Ask to check outbuildings, barns, etc as these are comforting places for a dog to shelter. Keep checking with the above even if you have done so several times already.