New dogs law passed on to councils from police

Jan 19 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

LOCAL authorities will be given responsibility for dealing with stray dogs 24 hours a day from April.

At the moment, councils are responsible during the day, and police take over out-of-hours.

Merseyside Police has written to all five Merseyside councils to alert them to a change in law which gives them responsibility for picking up strays all day.

Liverpool City Council has said it will have to review the financial support it gives to the police.

Assistant Chief Constable Helen King said: “This letter was sent to ensure this transition runs as smoothly as possible.”