The Northern Ireland public surrendered hundreds of unwanted pet dogs to their local councils during a six month period to September 2022.
A total of 385 dogs were collected at the owners' request or dropped off at a council pound and left in the care of 10 councils. Only Derry and Strabane Council did not to take in any surrendered dogs.
Figures show that the majority of the dogs, 271, were then passed from eight councils to animal shelters and other organisations.
Read more: Starving puppy aged 4 weeks dumped in industrial estate
Three councils sold a total of 67 dogs, with 63 from Newry, Mourne and Down, three from Antrim and Newtownabbey and another one from Lisburn and Castlereagh.
And six councils euthanised a total of 23 pet dogs.
- Newry, Mourne and Down District Council : destroyed 10 dogs
- Mid Ulster Council : destroyed 4 dogs
- Lisburn and Castlereagh Council : destroyed 3 dogs
- Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council : destroyed 3 dogs
- Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council : destroyed 2 dogs
- Mid and East Antrim Borough Counci l: destroyed 1 dog
The Mid Ulster area had the highest number of dog surrendered to councils, with 130 dogs handed over.
Unwanted dogs handed to councils:
- Mid Ulster Council: 130
- Newry, Mourne and Down District Council: 91
- Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council: 44
- Fermanagh and Omagh District Council: 42
- Mid and East Antrim Borough Council: 30
- Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council: 24
- Lisburn and Castlereagh Council: 9
- Belfast City Council: 6
- Ards and North Down Borough Council: 5
And a total of 67 dogs were sold by three councils.
- Newry, Mourne and Down sold 63 surrendered dogs
- Antrim and Newtownabbey sold 3 dogs
- Lisburn and Castlereagh Council sold 1 dog
The 385 dogs surrendered to councils are in addition to the thousands more who have been directly handed to rescue shelters and charities or taken in after being abandoned elsewhere.
They are looked after by a small army of dedicated volunteers and minimal staff with the help of public donations.
Animal Welfare spokesperson from the Alliance Party, Patrick Brown, said: "These figures show the stark and sad reality of the number of unwanted dogs that are either being abandoned, given up, or passed on to Council’s and animal shelters. From talking with numerous animal charities and rehoming centres across the country, the numbers reflect a complicated situation.
"Some dogs are given up due to families sadly no longer being able to afford them. Many charities are trying to support people in this situation, but the problem is much wider. Others are as a result of owners not understanding the responsibility involved and then not being able to control the dog.
"This has got much worse given the number of puppies purchased during the Covid pandemic. To put it simply, we need to have tighter restrictions on when you can buy a dog and there are several ways we could do this which I am looking at.
"Puppy farming is also leading to many dogs being given up. Industrial scale puppy breeding, whether it is registered or not, is a scourge on our society. Many puppies are being bred at an industrial scale and that can come with illnesses or behavioural issues, and the poor dogs that have been used for breeding are often given up as they are deemed to no longer have any use. This needs to be brought to an end and we can do that through legislation, regulation and enforcement.
"This problem is set to get worse if we do nothing. Between April 2021 and March 2022 there were 502 unwanted dogs recorded and in a six month period, between April 2022 and September 2022, there were already 385 recorded. We need to show this issue the urgency it deserves."
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