STROUD District Council’s animal welfare team is again celebrating top honours for the way it deals with stray dogs.

And they have been recognised for implementing tough new legislation aimed at improving animal welfare.

The RSPCA has announced the winners of its 2019 PawPrints Awards for local authorities, housing providers and public service organisations who go above and beyond to assure high animal welfare standards within their communities.

SDC’s animal welfare team has been awarded a Gold PawPrints Award in the stray dogs category for the sixth year running.

And the team was awarded silver for its animal activity licensing service.

A bronze award for contingency planning was also maintained by SDC’s Community Services team, which is assisted by the animal welfare team.

The stray dog service ensures that stray dogs are collected and properly cared for while all efforts are made to reunite them with their owners as soon as possible.

Animal activity licences were introduced in October 2018, covering the sale of animals as pets, providing or arranging boarding for cats or dogs, the hiring out of horses, the breeding of dogs or the keeping or training of animals for exhibition.

This new regime expanded the scope of activities requiring a licence and introduced significantly more rigorous animal welfare requirements.

SDC environment committee chairman Simon Pickering congratulated the SDC team.

He said: “This is really excellent news, and a well-deserved recognition of Alex Myrie and Josie Oak’s hard work, especially with the new licensing activities they carry out.

"I am very proud that Stroud District Council has such an excellent animal welfare service.”

SDC’s environmental protection manager Dave Jackson added his praise of the team.

He said: “The Animal Welfare team, consisting of Alex and Josie, consistently achieves great results in often very trying circumstances.

"While the stray dog service is well-established, the new animal activities regime imposed a significantly increased workload and, as ever with new legislation, a steep learning curve.

"It is therefore especially gratifying to have the new activity’s high standard recognised while simultaneously maintaining the existing standards of the stray dog and contingency planning services.

"We would also take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of the external organisations who assist us with our animal welfare duties, including our local RSPCA inspectors and animal home, Teckels Animal Shelter, local veterinarians, Gloucestershire Constabulary and Cats Protection.”

More information about the Animal Welfare team’s services is available at stroud.gov.uk/environment/environmental-health/animal-welfare