I arrived home last night to find a collection of children outside my house with a bitch staff that they had found,no collar on and had nearly been run over. They thought she may have been mine because they know I have a staff. I said I would take her in and ring the dog warden. She was such a sweetie, ok with cats chickens and other bitch staff but it didnt take long to work out by the reactions of my shih tzu and crestie that she was in season. I tried to keep her in the kitchen with the gate up but my crestie jumped over, I thought he would be ok because he is castrated but he was still mounting her and she was standing for him while my shih tzu who is entire shouted the house down in frustration. I rang the council but because it was after 5.15 I had to ring careline which is their out of hours emergency line only to be told that unless I could get the dog to the council offices which are about 8 miles away and I dont have a car or keep it overnight which I explained I couldnt 1. because she was in season and 2. I had to be at work today from 8.30 and couldnt leave her alone in the house with my dogs. She said then there was nothing she could do and when I asked what I should do with her she said you will just have to let her go then. Needless to say I didnt and was disgusted with their attitude. I did eventually manage to get a lift and met an enviourmental officer at the council offices where she was put into a cage in a garage until today when she will be transferred to kennels. I felt awful leaving her there as she was really crying. I had only been home 20 mins when a man came to my door asking if I had his dog. It turns out she was 9 years old and yes was in season. I didnt realise bitches still had seasons at 9. I have been told that he wont be able to collect her until monday as dog wardens arent back on duty until then. He will also have to pay 75.00 to release her. I feel bad now but this could so easily have been avoided with a disc and a collar. I think I might be putting in a complaint to the council though as I am not impressed with their service.

Unfortunately I think it's unusual for dog wardens to work over weekends. At least you did your best for this girl

Councils just don't have the money to have a dog warden standing by 24 hours a day to collect the odd stray. You (and the council) did the best you could and the bitch is safe till her owner collects her :-)

you are lucky that you have a dog warden service we do not have anything like that at all where we live, and do not feel sorry that you did not keep her, stupid person not having a collar,tag, etc, even if the dog had escaped, she could of been mated how many times before you got her , he may be having a litter of pups in a few weeks time hope he realises that

would she still be fertile at 9 years old?

Possibly, may not have a large litter could be only a singleton....
This guy needs to get the dog down the vets PDQ on Monday after picking up the dog from the dog warden
and get her jabbed..& book her into be spayed.

Her teats were quite large so I am wondering if she has maybe had litters before.

It's how it works. Last summer we picked up an Akita that was running around in the middle of a main road. We had to take her about 15 miles to the stray kennels as it was evening.

I would have taken her myself if I had a car but not everybody has access to one and it was the advice to just let it go which I thought was not very good.

> it was the advice to just let it go which I thought was not very good.

You're right it's not - but what else could they suggest? If you couldn't get her to them or keep her and they have no means to collect her the only option left is to let her go. You're right it's not good enough but it's not the councils fault, it's the owner of the dog IMO. I'm sure councils would love to be able to offer a 24 hr dog warden service, along with keeping libraries open later, having more street cleaners, after school clubs etc but as with everything finances dictate the service and council taxes have been frozen for a couple of years now.

Forgot to say, we were told the same. We didn't think we'd make it to the kennels in time (before 10 pm) and there was no way we could take her home.

Yeah I blame the owner too just at the time you just feel like blaming whoever is at the end of the phone. The guy didnt seem that bothered about his dog. I have told the council that if he wont pay the release fee I would consider rehoming her but she would need to be spayed first.

Hindsight is wonderful - maybe a trip to the vet to get her checked for a chip would have been easier for you. I found three dogs last year (not together) and thanks to the vet all were back with their owners within an hour or so as it turned out they were all fairly local - as I guess the one you had was. I hope the owner appreciates the trouble you went to - he should do.

She wasnt chipped, I asked the owner. He didnt seem bothered which is why I thought he might not pay to get her back but my son is working in enviourmental (sp) services at the moment so he will be able to get the info from the dog wardens.

Been here several times and yeah I guess if you can't get to them and can't keep them either then as harsh as it sounds 'letting them go' is the only option left. However without wishing to sound over dramatic that could lead to a car accident, especially since several dogs I have picked up have literally been dancing in and out of traffic.

I picked up a Staffie not long ago.weekend...so council not interested nor was the RSPCA..both told me to let it go! I ended up with it the whole weekend, not ideal by a long shot but it was dog and people friendly.

Thats what I was worried about because I live just round the corner from quite a busy road. If she hadnt been in season I would have been able to keep her as she was so good with the cats, dogs chickens etc