Members of the public who find a stray dog have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to either return it directly to its owner or contact the Local Authority of the area where it was found.
If the dog is running free and a potential risk to traffic then you should call the police on 101, or Islandline on 01983 812591 if the dog’s running free along the rail lines.
If you’ve caught the dog then check for an ID tag as this should reveal the owners contact details and they may be near-by looking for their dog.
If you are unable to locate the owner you should contact the Dog Warden on 01983 821000 during office hours (or Wightcare on 01983 821105 out of hours). The Warden can collect the dog if necessary or they may have already been contacted by the owner.
Vets and the RSPCA can scan the dog for a microchip to help reunite it. You can view all the all the Island Vets contact details by clicking here.
If you use Facebook the best way to reunite a lost dog is to add a photo post to LostPetsiOW – an Isle of Wight community group with over 20,000 local members.
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