Mystery of Dumped Dogs.

MORE than a dozen dogs have been abandoned in the space of a month, leaving council workers baffled.

Since September, the dogs, which have mainly been Staffordshire Bull Terriers, have been left in the Foxhill area of Wanborough.

Four dogs were found before to September 18, on September 19 a Staffie was found by the Ridgeway, a Staffie and Rottweiler were found together on September 22, two more Staffies were picked up on October 1, another was found on October 11 and on Tuesday, a Rottweiler and a five-month-old Staffie were found together.

A Staffie, which is appears to be part of the same group, was found on October 9 in Stratton Road and two Staffie-crosses, also thought to be connected, were found in Fresden, High-worth.

The council believes the dogs have been kept together in a group because they are very familiar with each other.

Alison Waine, animal welfare officer, said the dogs were all extremely friendly and in good condition, but she is keen to find out where they were coming from.

“The area where they have been abandoned is not somewhere where dogs are usually left. In the last eight years I think there has been one incident.

“All the dogs seem to know each other and are probably related but the only way they can be linked, apart from where they have been left, is that they all have kennel cough infection.

“We can rule out a puppy farm in the normal sense because Staffie-crosses have no monetary value, and there are no signs of fighting or injury.

“We have been completely stumped by this. We’ve never seen anything like it and we have spoken to other local authorities who are equally perplexed.

“We really want to try and find anybody who might be able to shed some light on this.”

The council is desperate to rehome the dogs but because it has no history on them it is unable to let them go to homes with children.

“If we can’t find a home for these dogs they will have to be put down,” said Alison.

“We are able to hold a dog for seven days to find the owner then only have another seven days after that to find the dog a home.

“It’s a real issue trying to rehome Staffies, but especially so when they have kennel cough. Most kennels can’t take them, so they have to go directly to a home, which is really hard.

“These are young, friendly, happy dogs and of course we don’t want to see any dog put down.”

If you are interested in rehoming one of the dogs you can find out more by contacting Alison on 01793 466118.