DOG wardens in Wiltshire are facing a crisis which they are working desperately to avoid.

They are trying to overcome a massive rise in the number of stray dogs and insufficient kennel space in which to keep them while they try to find their owners.

Many of the strays are not dogs that are lost, but have been deliberately abandoned by their owners, including pregnant bitches and puppies.

Alex Whittingham, one of Wiltshire Council’s two dog wardens, said: “Essentially, we are facing a crisis because there are so many of them.

“We are rapidly getting to a point where we aren’t able to cope because we don’t have enough kennel space.”

Alex, 29, switched career to become a dog warden after working as a registered veterinary nurse for two practices in Malmesbury and Trowbridge.

“More commonly, we are picking up dogs that have been abandoned by their owners, not those which are genuinely lost,” she said

She says the stray dogs found are not confined to certain breeds; often they are expensive ‘designer dogs’ such as Cockapoos, as well as Labradors and Spaniels.

On Friday, Alex travelled to Chippenham to collect a stray Springer Spaniel found wandering on a road. The brown and white dog had badly matted ears that needed immediate medical attention.

The reason why so many dogs are being abandoned lies in the current economic situation, she said.

“Many people bought dogs during the Covid lockdowns and then found they didn’t have time or were unable to cope when they went back to work.”

Since then, the cost-of-living crisis and the rise in energy bills has made life more difficult for dog owners whose household budgets have been stretching to breaking point.

Last year, the Wiltshire Council dog wardens took 196 dogs to kennels and only 74 (38 per cent) were claimed by their owners.

The figures are a massive rise on the 2021 total when they took 113 dogs to kennels and 68 (60 per cent) were claimed.

By law, the team can only keep the strays for seven days, while they check their microchips and try to identify and locate their owners.

“If we find the owners we have a legal obligation to hand the dogs back, unless we have welfare concerns, in which case we notify the RSPCA and they look into it.”

But the microchip on the dogs is not necessarily proof of ownership. Often, they are not updated, and retain links to the breeder or a previous owner.

“When the dog comes in as a stray, the person linked to the microchip may not own the dog. Our job is to find the person who owns the dog.”

After seeing last year's influx in the number of stray dogs being reported and a decrease in those being claimed, Wiltshire Council decided to take action.

It now posts the found dogs on the Dogs Lost website, and has created its own Facebook page with photographs of strays where no owner can be immediately identified.

The aim is to try and help find their owners quickly and get them reunited as soon as possible, the council said.

“We will continue to do this and hope to reunite as many dogs with their rightful owners as we can.

“Anyone claiming a dog from us needs to provide Personal ID, proof of address and sufficient proof of ownership as well as paying all relevant fees in full.

“Any dogs without a microchip implanted or up-to-date information registered on an approved microchip database will be issued with an improvement notice to rectify the situation with a 21-day period or face prosecution.”