Animal welfare service rated gold

Published Monday 10 October, 2022
Last updated on Wednesday 12 October, 2022

Swale Borough Council’s commitment to animal welfare has again been recognised by the RSPCA, receiving its thirteenth consecutive Gold Pawprint Award for the stray dog service and its first ever Bronze Award for Animal Licensing.

The Gold Award recognises the council’s stray dog service for its excellence in animal welfare and the Bronze Award show’s their understanding of animal licencing legislation and practices.

Cllr Julian Saunders, chair of the environment committee at the council, said:

“We’re delighted with these awards. They highlight the important work our teams do, day in, day out.

“We’ve seen an increase in the number of stray dogs in Swale and we work hard to give them a high standard of care.

“We have to meet strict criteria to be awarded gold for our stray dog service, including having highly trained officers, ensuring stray dogs get the medical treatment they need and having a committed kennel provider.

“We also do lots of proactive work in the community, attending events to check and insert microchips, and promoting responsible dog ownership.

“Our dog warden was also nominated for the special recognition award for their dedication and commitment.”

Cllr Tim Valentine, vice chair of the environment committee at the council, said:

“This is the first time we’ve been recognised in the licensing category, so we’re pleased to receive the Bronze Award.

“We’re responsible for inspecting and approving numerous animal activity licences, ranging from zoo licenses to doggy day care and pet shops.

“We take animal welfare in Swale very seriously, and these awards show our commitment and hard work has been recognised.”

For news on stray dogs found in Swale, follow the Swale Borough Council Stray Dog Service Facebook page.

To report a stray dog during normal office hours, the public should call 01795 417850 where arrangements will be made for the dog to be collected.

If a dog is found between 5pm and 9pm on weekday evenings, or between 9am and 9pm weekends and bank holidays, the public should ring the out of hours service on 07795 237479.