With so many dogs able to wander freely about towns these days, I’d almost forgotten that certainly at least in the 1970’s and 80s, dog wardens would patrol and pick up stray animals.
However, in Summer 1980, dog wardens had to start patrolling in twos for their own safety. Not from the animals, but from irate residents!
This put a strain on services with wardens patrolling Blantyre on five out of every fourteen days. The S.P.C.A had determined that Blantyre was a particular problem with the amount of dogs left to wander streets and impounding dogs was common. This caused significant frustration on owners having to pay a fee for pets to be released.
‘Rammies’ with dog wardens were common as wardens had complete empowerment to take the animals away if found straying and were sometimes points of contact in getting them back! One dog warden resigned, no longer willing to put up with physical abuse.
This article, which has a photo for illustration only, got me thinking about dog ownership. I’d almost forgotten too that it was law back then to have and pay for an annual “dog license”, something that may shock a younger generation now.
Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said:
Eleanor Clark Yes in our area in Hamilton the dog warden decided she would lift my dog who was a few feet in front of me,with her lead in her mouth as she had a always done as we got near home
Kelly Maguire Christine Maguire when rocky got lifted
Carol Boyd It’s about time they brought back dog licences. If I remember they cost 7/6p.
Manny Devlin Yip. Mind paying for a dog licence in the polis station 17 pence
Catherine Campbell We still have to pay for dog licenses here in Australia cats too and the cats must be microchipped by law.