I found a dog today

[kid]

He wasn't wearing a collar so no visible ID.
I took him to the vets but he wasn't chipped and the vets couldn't keep him there due to their kennel being unavailable. So they gave me the dog wardens number.

I phoned them and they came and picked him up. DD cried her eyes out when he went, she wanted us to keep him! We only had him here for an hour.
He got on quite well with my puppy but I still wasn't keen to keep him.

I have advertised him on a website and will also make some posters to put where I found him. I hope we can find his owner soon. The dog warden will only hold him for 7 days before putting him up for adoption.

awww...I found one too a while back..took it to the police station and left it in a cold dark kennel. I felt really bad but I couldn't keep it at home my collie would have eaten it!

What sort of dog was it? and whereabouts are you?

I'm in Hackney and it was a Corgi Chihuahua cross, well thats what the dog warden said. I thought it was a Jack Russell!

She reckons the dog is about 2 years old. He was so friendly, well until my kids tried to pick him up. He was fine with me though. I think he might come from the old peoples home near where I found him so I will put a poster right outside there.

aw poor thing, hope his owners get him back soon.

You should probably double check to make sure he won't be put down. Most pounds only keep the dog for 5 days and if not reclaimed or adopted they are put down.

Hi kid, have you called Battersea Dogs Home? The dog's owner may well have registered the dog as lost with them. I recently found a dog and reunited her with her owner within an hour thanks to BDH

The information given to me by the dog warden included
'By law, the Council must keep the dog for 7 clear days (*) to give the owner time to collect it. If the dog is not claimed, it becomes the property of the Council and will be put up for adoption. Nearly every Council has a ?non destruct? policy, and unclaimed dogs are unlikely to be put down unless they are very sick, or are so dangerous or aggressive that they could not be re-homed'

So I am hopeful that the dog will not be put down. He is adorable and I would have been happy to keep him here myself if I didn't already have a dog.

Do I have to phone BDH or is there a way to search online? Will have a look online tonight and phone tomorrow if not.
I really hope the owner can be located. I know I would be gutted if I lost my dog.

You can fill out a 'dog found' form on the BDH website, or ring them and they call you back to get all the details. I got the impression that they are the main lost and found point of communication in London so you might have some joy there. Good luck x

I will definitely fill out the found dog form now. I really want the dog reunited with his owner.

Thanks for that info Molesworth. I have just completed the found dog form online.

That most council pounds won't put to sleep after a stray dog's 7 days are up (UK, 5 days in Ireland) is bullshit I'm afraid. It depends on various things; the pound's policy, the amount of space in the pound vs the amount of new dogs coming in and even the dog's age and health. Some council pounds go out of their way to avoid PTS, but sadly many don't. This is why I and others lile me work to get dogs out of pounds and into rescue.

My extensive experience has taught me that some pounds will PTS if a dog is deemed unlikely to be homed - aggressive, ill, old, ugly, for example, all cases I've come across. In some pounds simple kennel cough is enough to warrant PTS. It's easily treatable but spreads like wildfire and pounds have been known to PTS a dog suffering from it rather than go to the cost of treating him and running the risk of having to treat all the dogs in the pound. Thank God it isn't Christmastime, which is the worst time of all for poundies.

May I advise that you email the website DogLost and ask them to include this dog on their site. DogLost is the main website serving this purpose and very successful. Also post on Facebook and ask others to spread the word if you have it, ask your local rescue to make note in case of enquiries and/or post details on their website and put posters up in local pet shops, vets and in or outside schools where they'll get maximum passers-by reading them.

Report to the Police -although strays are by law entirely yhe responsibility of councils now, in effect a dog is a possession and so you can report him as found. (Police might huff at this but you are in your rights to insist that they note it in case someone reports their dog as lost to them).

You might also like to have a word with Gladys at ProDogs Direct in South London, who will know where else to contact. Equally let Wood Green Animal Shelter know as well as Battersea in the hope that the owner might contact them.

If you hear that he is at risk of PTS and that after 7 days the pound won't keep him please contact me here (put Vallhala in the title cos I'm a bit dopey about missing things!) and let me know and I'll endeavour to get him into the safety of a no-kill rescue.

Finally, well done you for caring. So many people wouldn't.

HTH.

Val

Thanks Val, thats really useful information. I have filed im as found at Battersea, will email Doglost now.

I'll also use facebook so people can spread the word on there.

If anyone else wants to advertise him as found, I can forward a photo of him.

The posters went up last night and I had a couple of class tonight. The callers told me they knew of the dog and that it was being badly treated by its owners. They had witnessed the dog being beat and it was often left to roam the streets on its own. When they approached the owner, they were told 'Its my son's dog, he can do what he likes to it!'

Both ladies that phoned thanked me for taking the dog. They had reported the family to the council warden or someone like that, but nothing was done.

Val, any suggestions on what to do next? The family that the dog belongs to have not called me. Judging by what those 2 ladies said, I am not going to go out of my way to get in touch with them.

I guess I am hoping that the little doggy gets put up for adoption and that a family can give him the loving home he deserves.

Vallhala
Chances are, the dog will not be claimed back by its abusive owners.
Should I contact the animal pound or just assume that the dog will be put up for adoption at BDH?

Never reported or taken a lost dog before so I have no idea what I should do. I really want the dog to go to a new, loving home.

When they took him, he appeared healthy, well fed and very friendly. Surely they wouldn't PTS?

You really want to know what I'd do?

In view of what you now know about the owners I'd take those posters down bloody fast, and if the owner did contact me I'd tell them to eff off that the dog is in Wood Green Animal Shelter. I'd certainly say NOTHING to the animal pound or Dog Warden.

As for whether BDH would PhimTS... there's no one answer. They are not a no-kill organisation, they DO PTS the "aggressive" and others which are going to be there far too long and be a drain on their resources. However, this fella is, as you say, healthy and very friendly, which go tremendously in his favour, as will the fact that he's a mix of a very desirable toy dog and another small breed. On that there's no reason to think that BDH will do anything other than find him a grand home.

(It's a bugger that I live outside of BDH's homecheck/rehoming area, from what I hear he sounds lovely... of all small breeds I especially like Corgis).

You're perfectly at liberty of course to phone the pound and,after 7 days are up, BDH, explaining who you are and asking for an update on little fella's welfare.

If you feel you have enough info or could get to him to take a picture you could always help him by posting his need for a home and BDHs number here and on Facebook etc. I always reckon that the key to 99% of successes in rescue and rehoming is networking... why not start on MN!

Ok,
I will give the dog warden a call tomorrow when I finish work to let her know what I found out about the owner.
The posters have already been taken down and I will not be giving any details out to anyone who phones to claim the dog. I could say his owner got in touch and he has gone back to them already.

I will see if I can get some details so that I can try to help rehome him. He really is adorable but needed a good bath!

If you give the details to the dog warden it's highly likely that he/she might take the jobsworth contractually correct action of endeavouring to find the abusive owners and return the dog to them. Effectively what you have, not that I am doubting you, is hearsay. His/her job is to reunite lost dogs with owners where possible and as the dog is healthy and friendly he/she may well do just that.

Depends on your POV here. Personally I would tell the DW nothing but as you probably know I have no trouble with acting like this for what imho would be the greater good. I'd respectfully ask, beg even, that you didn't tell the DW that the owners are known to locals and that you're aware of this but of course it's your call, and your conscience about not telling the DW what you know.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be critical if you decide that it is right to tell the DW of what you know, just trying to explain why it may not be in the dog's interest for you to do so. Of course if you knew he had kind, worried owners, it would only be kind and right to let the DW know that it may be possible to locate them and to help him/her do so.

Hope that this comes over in the polite and respectful way in which it's meant.

I got home too late to phone anyway so I didn't call today (they close at 5 and there is no point phoning the out of hours numbers)

I may call them tomorrow as that will be 7 days and just ask if anyone did come forward. I'm all for preventing the dog from going back to his abusive owners.
Its true that it is hearsay, but why should a dog be left to roam the streets and fend for himself? Especially such a small dog

I will keep checking BDH's website to see if they advertise him on there. I do hope he appears on there. I wonder how long it will take. I suppose they have to assess him first to see what type of dog he is.

I'd guess that BDH only post a selection of dogs as they have so many so please don't stress if you don't see him online. You can always call and ask after him.

Good luck.