Environmental Health - Animal Welfare
Animal Control
Dog fouling, Lost dogs, Stray dogs, Re-homing, Microchipping service, Responsible ownership and the Animal Welfare Act. | |
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The Council's Animal Control Service will:
- Capture stray dogs throughout the district.
- Promote responsible pet ownership.
- Offer a micro-chipping service.
From the 6 April 2008 the Police will no longer be responsible for receiving stray dogs.
What to do if you find a stray dog.
Contact us - Our Animal Control Officer will collect the dog from you and try to find the owner straight away, if this is unsuccessful we will take the dog to the Councils kennels.
Once the dog is in kennels the owner has 7 days to claim the dog (Charges apply) before it is put up for re-homing.
Do not keep a dog that you have found without informing the Animal Control Officer, it is not your property and someone will be missing it.
What to do if you lose your dog.
Contact us - Our Animal Control Officer will keep a lookout for your dog.
Please let us know if you have found your dog, otherwise people will still be looking for it unnecessarily.
See also: DOG LOST  - a voluntary organisation that helps pet owners to find their lost and stolen dogs by listing dogs on their website, issuing posters to various organisations such as vets, kennels and the police. They have a network of helpers throughout the country that will look for missing dogs and report sightings. We have a close relationship with DOG LOST and work with them to reunite dogs with their owners.
If your dog has been found.
If your dog is found and identified by a tag, a microchip or by a description that you have provided then you will be notified as soon as possible.
However the dog will not automatically be returned to you.
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 149, the person claiming to be the owner of a seized dog shall not be entitled to have the dog returned unless all expenses are paid.
The current charges for each seized dog is a statutory fee of £25.00 plus daily kennelling fees and any veterinary costs where applicable.
As it is an offence to allow a dog to stray and the release fee must be paid.
Control of dog’s order 1992.
It is an offence for any dog, on a highway or in a public place, not to wear a collar with the name address of the owner inscribed on the collar, or on a plate or badge attached to it.
Any dog that is not wearing a collar and badge may be seized and treated as a stray dog under section 149 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
If you are responsible for a dog, you have a duty to ensure the dog is under control at all times and not a danger to other people or animals.
Promoting Responsible Dog Ownership.
It is important for us to promote a responsible attitude to dog ownership within the community to prevent the number of strays, dumped dogs, dogs suffering and dangerous dogs.
To do this we work with other organisations
- Local schools - Giving talks about responsible pet ownership. Children at a young age are educated on subjects such as how to behave around animals and why it is important to clean up after your animal.
- The RSPCA - We work with the local Inspectors to protect animals by making joint visits and sharing information about known problems and together we promote animal welfare.
- DOG LOST - a voluntary organisation that helps pet owners to find their lost and stolen dogs by listing dogs on their website, issuing posters to various organisations such as vets, kennels and the police. They have a network of helpers throughout the country that will look for missing dogs and report sightings. We have a close relationship with DOG LOST and work with them to reunite dogs with their owners.
- DOGS TRUST - Dogs Trust (formerly known as The National Canine Defence League) provides a wide range of information and offers a re-homing service throughout the UK.
The Animal Welfare Act 2006.
It is law that anyone who is responsible for an animal has a Duty Of Care to take reasonable steps to ensure that the animal’s needs are met.
“Duty of care” is a legal phrase which means that someone has an obligation to do something.
The new Act imposes a broader duty of care on anyone responsible for an animal to take reasonable steps to ensure that the animal’s needs are met.
This means that a person has to look after the animal’s welfare and ensure that it does not suffer.
The Act states that an animal’s welfare needs include:
- A suitable environment
- A suitable diet
- The ability to exhibit normal behaviour patterns
- Any need it has to be housed with or housed apart from other animals
- Protection from pain, suffering, injury or disease
Terms:
- Animal – any living creature with a vertebrae (back bone)
- Responsible owner of the animal - a person in charge of or looking after an animal, or the parent or guardian of a person under 16 years old who is responsible for the animal.
Anything which occurs in the normal course of fishing (including commercial fishing and angling) is exempted from the Act.
However, all fish for which a person is responsible (such as pet fish, ornamental fish and farmed fish) will be protected under the Act.
The law, like most laws, is a common informers act. This means that anyone is allowed to bring a prosecution for an offence.
The RSPCA to committed to investigating offences relating to cruelty or welfare of domestic animals.
Basildon Council will enforce the act, relating to all its licensed establishments, such as Pet Shops, boarding and breeding kennels etc.
In all cases of suspected cruelty issues relating to pet animals, the RSPCA should always be your first port of call.
Issues relating to Pet shops, Licensed kennels and Equine establishments should always be referred to your Local Authority.
Dog Fouling.
Please note the Animal Control Officer is not directly responsible for dog fouling issues and this to be reported to Streetcare.
Dog fouling is a common problem known to many. It is not only unpleasant but can also spread Toxocara through direct or indirect contact.
Every dog owner should be aware that it is the legal requirement to clean up the waste left behind by their dog. Ideally, dogs should be trained from an early age to 'go at home' in their own garden before or after a walk rather than during a walk.
- If dog fouling occurs away from home, the person in charge of the dog must clean up after the dog.
- If you have a garden encourage the dog to 'go' there. This can then be buried or cleaned up
- If you take your dog out for walks - then always take something with you to clean up the mess.
Every time your dog fouls "bag it and bin it"
Basildon Council dog microchipping service.
These days it is common for owners to have their pets implanted with a microchip for identification purposes. Microchips are commonly implanted under the skin of most domestic pets.
A microchip is a small device, about the size of a grain of rice, which contains a unique code number that can be read by a scanner.
When a scanner passes over the chip, it is activated by radio waves and a signal is transmitted to the scanner, giving you the chip number on the scanner display.
Basildon Council offers a microchipping service for dogs, available to all the residents of the Basildon District.
Arrangements can be made to carry out dog microchipping in your home.
For people who live outside Basildon District we will only carry out dog microchipping if it is practical and it will probably be necessary for you to bring the dog to us.
Will this replace the need to wear a collar and tag?
No. This is not a replacement for a collar and tag and they will still have to be worn under the Control of dog’s order 1992.
How much will cost?
The cost for microchip implantation is £20.00 The fee is payable in advance only.
Contact us to make an appointment.
How is the microchip implanted?
The microchip is injected via a sterile hypodermic needle, attached to a specially designed gun.
Where is the microchip implanted?
In dogs and cats, the microchip is implanted under the skin, into the muscle between the shoulder blades.
Any other animal should only be implanted with a microchip by a vet.
Does it hurt?
It should be no more painful, if not less painful than your dogs standard vaccinations.
It is highly unlikely that the microchip will break or shatter unless met with extreme force for example a car accident.
How does the microchip stay in place?
The microchip is coated with Parylene C, a polymer, the same used to coat human pacemakers.
A few days after insertion the tissue will grow around the chip, but the area should not be touched or rubbed while adhersion takes place for several days or the chip could move to another part of the animal's body.
Who can scan my dog?
Your local authority Animal Control Officer or animal welfare officer, the police, vets the RSPCA and other welfare organisations should all have scanners.
Once a dog has been found to have a microchip the national database will be contacted and the owners details obtained, enabling dog and owner to be reunited.
Unfortunately not all details held are updated when people move or the animal re-homed.
This could prevent an animal being reunited with its owner, so it’s a good idea to take advantage of services that the microchip company offer, and remember to keep your Microchip details together with your dogs vaccination booster records.
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