Council takes lead on collaring stray dogs

5.46.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sat 5th Apr 2008

• COLLECTING stray dogs becomes the job of local authorities from April 6 -and Richmond Council is well prepared to take on its new responsibilities.

The Council is employing a new contractor and is liaising closely with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, who will accept strays from the contractor or from residents. The Council has long operated a service for collecting strays within normal working hours; now it is taking on the out-of-hours service too. Responsibility has switched from the police.

Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Health and Housing, Cllr Denise Carr, said: "This responsibility is one we take very seriously and we are determined to carry it out as efficiently as we can. We are well prepared for the changes; the contractor is very experienced and is offering a service that fully meets our needs."