Huntingdonshire District Council’s Community Protection and Enforcement Officers conduct the duties of a District Dog Warden. They are empowered to deal with issues related to dog control, irresponsible dog ownership and are authorised to collect, seize and hold any dog believed to be a stray.

Found a stray dog?

Our officers can only collect a stray that has been contained or handed into a local veterinary surgery. We do not have the capacity to chase loose dogs.

If you find a stray dog during our normal office hours (Monday-Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm), please call us on 01480 388388 and we will arrange for an officer to come and collect the dog.

Alternatively, if you are able, you can take the dog to Wood Green, the Animals' Charity.

If you find a stray dog outside our normal office hours you can:

  • call Wood Green, the Animals' Charity, on 0300 303 9333 (8.30am-4.30pm Saturday and Sunday) or 07775 847 752 (out of hours for Huntingdonshire only) to make arrangements to take the dog to them

  • keep the dog overnight and contact us on the next working day.

If you are the owner of a stray dog that has been held, you will have to pay a £25 statutory charge plus our administrative and kennelling costs before your dog is released. You will also have to pay for any vets’ treatment if your dog was ill or injured when it was seized.

View Stray Dogs Fees and Charges [PDF, 45Kb].

If a stray dog is unclaimed after seven days, it becomes the property of Huntingdonshire District Council. We will work with Wood Green, the Animals' Charity to assess any unclaimed dogs and, where possible, suitably rehome them.

Microchipping and collars

It is the law that your dog must wear a collar and tag, displaying your contact details, when in a public place.

You’re responsible for keeping your dog’s microchip information up-to-date, for example if you move to a new house.

Dogs over the age of 8 weeks old must also have a microchip with the current owners’ details.

Contact the database company your dog is registered with to update any of your details.

If you fail to update your dog’s microchip you could get a fixed penalty notice or a court fine of up to £500.

Lost your dog?

If you have lost your dog please report it to us on 01480 388388 (Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm). We will make a note of all the relevant details in case we have a stray reported that matches the description.

We do not go out to search for the dog.

We advise you to also contact Wood Green, the Animals' Charity, as a member of the public may have taken your dog there.

Dog control

We work with other partners to reduce incidents caused by irresponsibly dog ownership.

There is a district-wide Public Space Protection Order PSPO [PDF, 0.1MB] which states some clear requirements for persons in charge of dogs.

It is an offence if you:

  • fail to remove dog faeces (poo)

  • do not keep a dog on a lead in certain areas

  • do not put and keep a dog on a lead when told to do so by an authorised officer

  • allow a dog to enter land where dogs are excluded and

  • are not carrying a suitable bag (or similar) for picking up and disposing of dog faeces and be able to show this if requested by an authorised officer.

To report an issue about dog control please use the form below.

Report Incident with Dog Control

Dog fouling

It is an offence to allow your dog to foul and not remove the faeces from any land in the district of Huntingdonshire, unless the owner of the land in question has given you permission to not remove the faeces.

If caught for this offence a Fixed Penalty of £100 may be issued or consideration for further legal action.

You can use the map below to check if the issue has already been reported to us. 

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If you want to report an area of heavy dog fouling or a person that is not picking up after their dog please use our online form below.

Report Dog Fouling

Dangerous dogs

Huntingdonshire District Council will investigate incidents of dog-on-dog attacks. If any injuries are noted during the incident, please try to resolve this with the owner of the dog at the time. If not, get as much detail as possible from the person in charge of the other dog or any vehicle details linked to the incident.

Report a Dog-on-Dog or Dog-on-Animal Attack

Cambridgeshire Constabulary deals with the following:

  • Reports of an attack where a dog has injured a person. You can report a dangerous dog by calling the local police on 101

  • Situations where a dog believed to be dangerously out of control in a public place call 999. This includes situations where a person believes that the dog may injure them.

If you believe you have experienced a dangerous dog or suspect that a dog may be a banned breed, please report it to the local police on 101.