Found a Dog

​​What to do if you have found a dog

If you have found a dog then it becomes your responsibility, you are responsible for its care whilst it is with you. Do not give the dog to a third part, especially social media groups.

​​The Law

Members of the public who find a stray dog have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to either return it directly to its owner or contact the Local Authority of the area where it was found.

Any member of the public who retains possession of such dog and neither  returns it to the owners or contacts the local authority, is committing theft under the Theft Act 1968.

You can find your local Dog Warden here..

​​Your Options

To hand the dog over to the Local Authority Dog Warden service, who will:

a) Examine the dog, if the dog requires veterinary treatment they will receive it but in any event will receive emergency inoculations to protect them from contagious diseases.

b) Make every attempt to get the dog back home including scanning for a microchip and searching records to try and establish an owner.

To keep the dog.

Once reported to the Local Authority Dog Warden, you may keep the dog on what is referred to as a finder retainer, if you do so, you cannot give or sell the dog for twenty eight days and even after that, the dog is not your own property. Legal ownership never transfers to the new owner and the original owner can claim it back at any time in the future.

During this period you have the full responsibility of the dog including maintaining its health.

​​How dogs become stolen

Some dogs are outrightly stolen, some to order but most dogs become stolen by finding.

The finder fails to contact the Dog Warden service to report the found dog and hands it over to a third part, sometimes a community group. the dog then goes missing and cannot be traced, leaving a distraught owner.