Pet owner’s fury after being slapped with an £85 bill by kennels who looked after his lost dog for FIVE MINUTES
The local council insists the owner has to be fined because it is the law - despite how short the dog's stay was
A PET owner was slapped with an £85 bill by a kennels which cared for his lost dog - for just FIVE MINUTES.
Sean Detheridge was near his home when 12-year-old border collie cross Flynn wandered out a gate and disappeared.
The 48-year-old called the dog warden who told him the partially blind pooch had been picked up and taken to a branch of Pets at Home.
But after the scanner - which reads pets microchips - was not working, Flynn was taken to a nearby kennels where Sean was told to go and collect him on Monday.
Sean, from Kettlebrook near Tamworth, Staffordshire, was shocked when he was hit with a bill for £85 - despite Flynn only being in their care for five minutes.
Yesterday Sean said: "Flynn wandered through the gate when I was outside fetching some soil, someone picked him up at the end of the road.
"It was only a few minutes, I realised he'd gone and quickly went to look for him, but I couldn't find him.
"I called the emergency dog warden number and was told that Flynn would be returned to me as he is microchipped.
"He was taken to Pets at Home, but apparently they couldn't locate his microchip as the scanner 'wasn't working'.
"I was then informed they would be taking him to the kennels."
Flynn is understood to have arrived at the Ninestones Kennels in Sutton Coldfield at 5.15pm - his owner turned up at 5.20pm.
Sean added: "I was looking all over for Flynn since about 1.30pm, I don't let him wander off and when he went missing it was very upsetting as he is a part of the family - I feared that he could have walked into the road due to him being partially blind."
A spokesman for Tamworth Borough Council said: "Any dog found wandering in a public place alone is classed as a stray and has to be dealt with by Tamworth Borough Council, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
"In all circumstances, the dog will be taken to kennels.
"The fee to reclaim the dog is a statutory charge, which is set under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
"The fee consists of £70 which covers the callout; collection; transport; a government penalty of £25 and the remaining £14.50 covers the daily charge for keeping the dog in a safe environment at the kennels.
"We are unable to find any details of the original call made when the dog initially went missing.
"If Mr Detheridge had called the council, he would have been advised to contact our Dog Warden Service, which is run by Noah's Ark.
"The person who found the dog called the warden at 3.30pm following an attempt to take the dog to Pets at Home.
"The warden would have been deployed for up to two hours in collecting the dog, taking it to get the microchip scanned and delivering it to the kennels.
"We have fully investigated this incident and found that the action taken was appropriate to ensure the welfare of Mr Detheridge's dog."
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