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NDWA is frequently approached by owners who have lost their pets and are unsure as to the procedures involved in obtaining information as to their whereabouts, particularly where several local authorities boundaries may overlap.
This is not intended to be a "one size fits all " answer, but some of the more common questions that can assist an owner in locating their missing animal. Susan Bell
Please click on the question below and the answer will then be displayed.
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- I have lost my dog, who do I contact?
- I have found a dog, who do I contact?
- I have found a dog and I want to keep hold of it?
- I know where my dog is being held by a finder but they will not give it back to me, how do I resolve this?
- Someone has my dog and they say that the Dog Warden knows they have it?
- Who else can I contact if my dog is missing?
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ANSWER:
- You should contact as a matter of urgency the Dog Warden in your Local Authority area. If you are on holiday or away from your own area, you should contact the Local Authority for the area where you lost your dog.
- You should also contact the local Police for the area where your dog was lost.
- The Police and the Dog Warden in the area that you lost your dog may already know where your dog is. If it is with a finder or at the stray dog kennels they will tell you, if not they may make a record of the loss (though they are not obliged to do so by law).
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- You must contact either the Police or the local Authority (or preferably both) in the area in which the dog was found to enable a record to be made.
- You must then either return the dog to its owner (where the owner is known) or hand the dog over to the police or local authority, or make appropriate arrangements with them for you to keep the dog yourself.
- If you fail to comply with this procedure you may be prosecuted for theft of the animal you found.
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- You must still follow the procedure in answer 3 as the Police or Dog Warden may know of the loser.
- If the Dog Warden comes to your property the dog can be scanned for a microchip which you would otherwise not be aware of. Additionally by coming to your property to check on the dog, the Dog Warden as an authorised officer can officially seize the dog as a stray in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This means that the dog becomes the property of the local authority if it is not claimed within seven days and it can then be officially re-homed with you. If you simply report it to the Police you must keep it for 28 days and even after this period a previous owner may lay claim to it.
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- Check with the local Dog Warden and Police whether the dog has been reported by the occupants of the address as being found.
- If your dog has been kept by the finder and the Dog Warden or police know about it the person at the address must return the dog to you (but the finder, the Police and the Dog Warden may want you to adequately prove your ownership).
- If you have adequate evidence that the dog held at the address is yours (and especially if the occupants of the address have not notified either the Police or Dog Warden as finding it) your dog may be being held illegally and the police are the correct authority to assist you with getting your dog back.
- If you know that a person has your dog at a particular address they must return your dog to you. If they fail to do so contact the police as it is theft.
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- Check with the Dog Warden straight away, if your dog was originally found by the finder and they notified the Council it should be recorded in the register of found dogs. If the dog remained with the finder the finder should be aware that by law they have to return the dog to its original owner if you have contacted them within seven days.
- If your dog was seized as a stray dog but left with the finder and seven days have elapsed, or if the dog was taken to the councils kennels then rehomed to the finder after seven days the ownership of the dog will have transferred first to the local council then on to the new owner. This then becomes a matter for the courts to decide but, however unfortunately, if all parties are shown to have acted in good faith a legal transfer of ownership has occurred and it may not be possible for your dog to be returned to you without the consent of its new legal owner.
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- You should contact neighbouring Local Authority Dog Wardens as your dog may have wandered or been taken inadvertently into an adjacent area.
- If your dog is micro chipped, tattooed or has an i.d. tag with another address or contact details than your own you should contact that person or organisation to make sure that your contact details with them are up to date and to alert them that someone may make contact about the dog.
- You may like to contact one of the Lost and Found commercial websites; some offer a free service whilst others charge a fee or request a donation. These can assist with searching for your dog but NDWA makes no endorsement or recommendation for them.
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