Found a dog or cat

If you have found a dog or cat, contact us.

• Call the found line
• Speak to an operator
• What happens next
• What to do with the dog or cat
• Keeping the animal in your home
• A warning on lost cats...

Call the found line

If you have found a dog or cat you should call the Lost Dogs and Cats Line on 0901 477 8477* as soon as possible. Alternatively you can fill in our found eform. The form will be processed within an hour and you will be emailed with a reference number.

* calls cost 60p per minute from a BT landline, other networks may vary. Open 8am to 8pm

Speak to an operator

They will ask you for your details and the animal's details. We need to know:

• Your name, address, and a telephone number you can be contacted on (we won't give this out to owners).


• The breed of dog or cat, his / her sex, colour, age and size.


• If the animal has any form of identification, such as a collar and tag or a microchip.


• Most importantly, when and where you found the dog or cat.

What happens next

We will search around the area you found the animal for any dogs or cats that have been reported missing.

All the details will be entered onto the computer in a central database. The operators will search the database to see if they have any matches to pets that have been lost. If they have a match, they will let you know straight away and will contact the owner for you.

What to do with the dog or cat

• Bring it to us. We accept stray dogs and cats 24 hours a day.

• Call your local Animal Warden (normal working hours 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday), who may be able to collect the dog or cat from you.

• You can take the dog to your local police station where Battersea Dogs & Cats Home will collect him (dogs only).

Keeping the animal in your home

If you would like to keep the dog or cat in your home you should call the

• Lost Dogs and Cats Line on 0901 477 8477* so we can search our database for his or her owner. If we do not find an owner immediately we will keep your report on the database for 28 days and continue searching.

• You must report a found dog by law to your local police station in case the owner is looking for him. For more information, please read our legal information page.

• Take the dog or cat to the local vet or animal hospital to be scanned for a microchip.

• Report the dog or cat found to the local council Animal Warden, veterinary surgery and any other animal rescue organisations in the area.

* calls cost 60p per minute from a BT landline, other networks may vary. Open 8am to 8pm

A warning on lost cats...

Please carefully consider taking a cat into your home because you think it is lost. Cats tend to roam for some distance, and it may not really be lost. You should never feed a cat unless you know who it belongs to, and the owner doesn't mind. Sometimes food is all a cat will go home for!