Charnwood Borough Council

Dogs can be mans best friend or public enemy number one - depending on their owner. Most dogs are well looked after, never cause any bother, and give their owners and their families enormous pleasure and companionship.

Responsible owners make sure their dogs never foul public places and train them from an early age to go at home . If fouling occurs away from home they clean up after their dog. Further information is contained in the DETR leaflet "Scoop the Poop" .

They keep their dog under control at all times (whether on or off the lead), and make sure their pet never strays.

Of course, accidents do happen, and pets can escape, but your dog is at risk if left to roam, and a family pet could easily be injured or cause an accident. In the countryside, a farmer is entitled to shoot a loose dog if he fears it may attack livestock.

We have a dog control service which aims to:

• Deal with lost or stray dogs
• Promote responsible dog ownership
• Enforce the Council's order on dog fouling
• Enforce other dog-related legislation (including the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991)

• Report Dog Fouling / Strays etc

Stray Dogs

The Dog Control Officer, regularly tours all parts of Charnwood. He will seize and detain any stray dog he finds in a public place, either on patrol or in response to a complaint. Strays on private land can also be captured, with the landowners consent.

Under the Governments Control of Dogs Order 1992 all dogs in a public place are now legally required to wear a collar and tag giving the name and address of the owner. It is an offence for your dog to be without this identification.

As a collar and tag can easily become lost it is advisable to consider having your dog micro-chipped (see below).
Dogs with suitable identification will be returned to their owners free of charge on the first occasion.

Dogs found without adequate identification, or which have strayed before, will be taken to our contractors kennels, (College Garth Kennels, Hathern) and kept there for the statutory 7 day period. If unclaimed they will be made available for re-homing.

Before the dog can be reclaimed by its owner, a fine, daily boarding charges and any veterinary fees incurred must be paid.

If you see a Stray Dog

If you want to report a stray or lost dog, during office hours (Monday - Thursday, 08.30 - 17.00, Friday, 8.30 - 16.30) please telephone 01509 634628/634656.

Since the Police no longer have a responsibility for accepting stray dogs,the Dog Control Officer now provides an out of hours collection and kennelling service from Mon to Sunday 17.00 - 22.00 for stray dogs that have been reported to him and are in the possession of the finder. He can be contacted on 07895 490589

The kennels which are situated at College Garth Kennels, Derby Road, Hathern are also available to accept strays on Mon-Fri 08.00 - 12.00 and 13.00 - 17.00, on Sat 09.00 - 16.00, on Sun 09.00 - 12.00
tel no 01509 842327

By working in partnership with College Garth Kennels, we are able to provide a cost-effective service, backed by the resources and experience of one of the areas best-known kennels. Both the Council and the kennels have a common goal: to encourage all dog owners to be responsible about looking after their pets, and to ensure animals (and people) are not put at risk by thoughtlessness

Noisy Dogs

Complaints about noise from barking dogs are dealt with either by the Councils Tenancy & Welfare section where the dog is in a Council owned property or in all other cases by the Environmental Protection Team. More information on barking dogs and the law can be found on our barking dogs page

Responsible Dog Ownership

• Micro-chipping

A free micro-chipping service is offered to people who re-home a dog from the contract kennels (College Garth Kennels). For more information click here.

• Education

A member of our Environmental Health staff or our Dog Control Officer will be very happy to visit schools, clubs, voluntary organisations or other groups to talk about this work and promote responsible dog ownership.

Anyone rehoming a stray from the kennels receives a free copy of Charnwood Borough Council's Dog Owners Handbook and can take advantage of a free place on a basic dog training course. For further details contact the Council on 01509 634628.

The Law

We have introduced new dog control orders under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2006 which come into force from 28th January 2008.

Please click on following to see orders.

The Fouling of Land by Dogs (Borough of Charnwood) Order 2007

The effect of this order, which replaces the existing designation order under the Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996, is that if a dog defecates at any time on the land listed in the order, which includes most public land, and a person who is in charge of the dog at that time fails to remove the faeces from the land forthwith, that person will be guilty of an offence. There will be exemptions for blind persons with guide dogs and disabled persons using trained assistance dogs.

• The Fouling of Land by Dogs (Borough of Charnwood) Order 2007 (PDF Document 451.73 Kb.)

For more information on Dog Fouling click here

The Dogs Exclusion (Borough of Charnwood Children’s Play Areas) Order 2007

The effect of this order, which replaces the existing byelaws, is that a person in charge of a dog will be guilty of an offence if he takes the dog onto, or permits the dog to enter or to remain on these play areas. There will be exemptions for blind persons with guide dogs and deaf persons and disabled persons using trained assistance dogs.

• The Dogs Exclusion (Borough of Charnwood Children’s Play Areas) Order 2007 (PDF Document 357.71 Kb.)

The Dogs on Leads by Direction (Borough of Charnwood) Order 2007

The effect of this order, which replaces the existing byelaws, is that a person in charge of a dog will be guilty of an offence if at any time on the land above, he does not comply with a direction given to him by an authorised officer to put and keep the dog on a lead.

• The Dogs on Leads by Direction (Borough of Charnwood) Order 2007 (PDF Document 389.08 Kb.)

Defences

There are defences in all Dog Control Orders of
a) having a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with an order; or
b) acting with the consent of the owner or occupier of the land, or of any other person or authority which has control of the land

Penalty

The penalty on conviction for an offence is a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale (maximum £1000). However an authorised officer who has reason to believe that a person has committed an offence may give that person a notice offering him the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for the offence by payment of a fixed penalty. The penalty will be set at £80 with a discounted sum of £50 if paid within 10 days. The Council will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who fails to pay the fixed penalty.

The Dog Control Officer is authorised to issue fixed penalty notices, as are the Council's Street Wardens, and carries out daily patrols of the many Council managed parks, recreational areas and open spaces.

He is also authorised to deal with dangerous dogs, or dogs dangerously out of control in a public place, in conjunction with the Police.

Standards and Duties

We aim to answer telephone calls direct to Dog Control Service within 10 seconds and within 25 seconds if the call is made via the switchboard. If you write to us we will respond within 5 working days.

The Contractor is required to:-

Respond to requests for service as follows:-

Stray or lost dog	same working day
Dog fouling	3 working days
Dangerous Dogs	Same day
Emergencies	2 hours from receipt of instructions

Micro-chip and rehome unclaimed dogs after 7 clear days.

These standards are reviewed annually and take account feedback from service users.

Performance

Between April 2008 and March 2009 we received 657 requests for service and dealt with 98% of these within the target response times outlined above

Customer Choice

Feedback from our customers is essential for assessing the quality of this service and provides useful indicators of successes or shortcomings in service delivery.

We invite comments on the quality of service provided through our dog control customer satisfaction survey. If you wish to discuss or comment on our service or any information in this leaflet please do not hesitate to contact us.

Should you have cause to complain about us or our services then let us know so we can, if appropriate, take action to put matters right. Where you feel this has not happened we have a formal complaints procedure, which you may follow. All reception points and enquiry centres have copies of the Complaints Procedure leaflet.

If you would like an explanation of this leaflet in your language or to obtain copies in Braille, on audio tape or large print please contact our Joint Service Shop on 01509 634789.

Contact Details

• How to Contact Environmental Health