IT IS supposed to be a day to catch up on the paperwork, but Jane Taylor’s phone won’t stop ringing. As a dog warden, she is used to getting odd calls. Such as the one from a woman asking for the removal of the geese arguing outside her house; or the request to find a snake lost in the plumbing.

Then there was the hedgehog that apparently needed rescuing, even though it was happily going about its business.

But when a caller says a stray dog has entered her garden and is threatening her own dog, Jane, 25, snatches her van keys and runs for the door. The freshly brewed coffee will have to wait.

The stray in question is quick. The dog leads Jane a merry dance and she chases it through fields for a mile or so, before it doubles back towards the estate. A crowd gathers. Jane, helped by an animated group of neighbours, manages to corner the dog in a garage, then muzzles the animal and helps it into her van. “I probably couldn’t have caught it alone,” she says.

“People often chip in to help; it’s a bit of excitement and no one likes to see a dog in distress. You have all sorts of wonderful ideas for your day and they sometimes just never get done. You have to prioritise the work and you never know what the day holds.”

This week has been a busy one for Jane, who works in City of York Council’s animal health department. With two strays a day, the problem is getting worse.

Jane and her colleagues fear the credit crunch may be to blame; when owners can’t or won’t pay for a vet, their dogs are sometimes cast out.

Last year, nearly 300 dogs were taken into care. Most were reunited with their owners, but some had to be put down.

“Some dogs are put to sleep for their own good; sometimes because of illness, sometimes their experiences have damaged them so much they become dangerous,” says Jane.

“I think the last time we put a healthy dog down was two years ago. The shelters were full to bursting for months, and we had to put some down, including puppies. It does affect you; you always go home and think about it.”

Jane needs to stay detached or she would not be able to cope with the hard times. But watch her with the puppies in the kennels, and you can see the affection she has for her rescued dogs, even though she has never owned one herself.

“If I worked part-time, I’d have all of them,” she says. Mostly, Jane’s job brings her joy. Some situations work out better than she could have hoped, from the undernourished spaniel that found a happy home to the abused German Shepherd now working at Full Sutton jail.

“We called her Tallie and she was a lovely little thing, soft as anything. I wondered if she’d go to the prison, but because she is so confident, she’s in her element. That kind of experience makes up for the bad parts of the job.”

But the bad part of the job lies in the abandonment of healthy animals and the number of stray dogs on York streets.

“It baffles me,” says Jane. “You think you’ve seen the worst of it, but then you see something else. It amazes me that it continues every year. I honestly can’t give any reason why people would do that. Why wouldn’t they ring up and ask for some help?”

While many owners abandon their pets as a last resort, support networks do exist for people who are struggling. The animal health department offers free advice and, if it cannot help directly, will point callers in the right direction, to the RSPCA, a vet or the Dogs Trust.

These group exist to avoid dogs ending up in distress and offer help, from subsidised neutering schemes to cheap microchips. If more owners were to take up the offer of cost-effective micro chipping, Jane’s job would be a lot easier. It is often impossible to trace a dog’s history because so many are found without identification tags, even though these are required by law.

Often, the information contained in a microchip is out of date.

“We can’t stress the importance of ID enough; we don’t have magic wands, and if we have no information on a dog, we can’t trace its owners,” says Jane.

While it might seem obvious, the lack of information is a problem for Jane, who would love to see licenses reintroduced. The bulk of her time is spent out in her van, but Jane is also kept busy inspecting and licensing pet shops, maintaining links with the RSPCA and the Dogs Trust, and going out on dog fouling patrols with other wardens.

The sight of uniformed officials and the logo on Jane’s van can act as a deterrent to lazy owners contemplating neglecting their poop-scoops.

“We don’t just hold clipboards and tell people off, we’re trying to help the community because good relationships with people can only benefit you. I suppose nine times out of ten people don’t appreciate what I do, but the dogs seem to, and that’s what keeps me going.”

Having seen her play with the puppies in the kennels, maybe this dog warden is not quite as detached as she thinks she is.


What to do if you discover a stray dog

TO REPORT a stray dog, phone 01904 551530; report a lost dog, phone 01904 552299.

Collar and tag identification is a legal requirement and cannot be substituted for a microchip, but if you do choose to microchip your animal, ensure your details are updated when necessary.

Stray dogs found by the council are held for seven days. If an owner does not claim the dog, it is put up for adoption.

To arrange a talk on responsible dog ownership for your school or group, contact the dog warden service on 01904 551530 or email animal.health@york.gov.uk

For more information on dog ownership visit defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/local/dogs/owner