FENLAND District Council s animal welfare and dog warden service are sending out an urgent SOS for people to come forward and offer a home to a stray dog because the contract kennels are full to overflowing. Terry Ball, the council s dog warden picked up

FENLAND District Council's animal welfare and dog warden service are sending out an urgent SOS for people to come forward and offer a home to a stray dog because the contract kennels are full to overflowing.

Terry Ball, the council's dog warden picked up more than 40 stray dogs in December and they urgently need homes.

Before Christmas the council reinforced the message that a dog is for life and not just for Christmas. Now that Christmas is behind us, it is vital that people who may be thinking of taking on a dog should do so now.

New Year is traditionally the time when animal refuges are swamped with unwanted pets which have been Christmas impulse buys and the expected January influx is going to make a critical situation even worse.

Dogs picked up before Christmas have no form of identification on them, either on their collars or in an embedded micro chip. As a result there is no way the council can reunite the dogs with their owners.

In 2006 Terry Ball captured more than 200 stray dogs and only 50 per cent of them were able to be returned to their owners. A further 48 per cent had to be re-homed and two per cent had to be put down.

Anyone who would like to see the animals currently in the kennels should contact the council's contract kennels on 01945 583177 between 9am and 5pm.

Councillor Peter Murphy, portfolio holder for Streets Ahead, said: "Now that Christmas is over this is a good time to take a dog into your home if you are looking for a pet. The council's dog warden provides an invaluable service for the people of Fenland.

"Without this service the countryside would be awash with lost or abandoned dogs.