Who You Gonna Call? – Dogbusters!

Published on: 3 Mar, 2019
Updated on: 3 Mar, 2019

Lost or found a dog in our borough? From Friday (March 1, 2019), the way to deal with stray dogs has changed.

A new service operated by Dogbusters will collect stray dogs from finders, take calls about lost and found dogs, take payments of fees and deliver dogs back to their owners. This service will be provided 24/7 including weekends and bank holidays.

Cllr Graham Ellwood, lead for Licensing, Environmental Health and Community Safety, said: “If you have lost or found a dog in the Guildford area, please call Dogbusters on 07769 972813. This service should be able to help reunite you with your pet.”

Cllr Graham Ellwood

Any problems with nuisance dogs (ones regularly allowed to roam, noisy dogs, dog fouling, dogs being out of control) should be reported to the council on 01483 505050.

With aggressive dogs and ones that attack wildlife and livestock, contact Surrey Police on 101 if the dog is no longer a threat or 999 in an emergency.

The council thanked Treetops Kennels for years of partnership. The kennels will no longer be involved with strays and should not be contacted.

Responses to Who You Gonna Call? – Dogbusters!

Netty Wood Reply

March 18, 2019 at 12:41 pm

Who exactly are Dogbusters?
Lucy Harris Reply

March 26, 2019 at 10:10 am

Who are Dogbusters? Their website only gives a mobile phone number and email address. Someone called ‘Sarah’ apparently answers the phone, no surname.

Are their premises licenced? Do they actually have premises or only operate from a van? You cannot collect your dog from them, they deliver to you. How much do they charge to give you your dog back? GBC – in the interests of transparency, please give more details!

A GBC spokesperson responded: “The Dogbusters service is a fully licensed boarding kennels that have also provided a stray dog service for other local authorities.

“They have recently achieved the highest star rating possible (5 stars) under the new animal welfare licensing regulations and their kennels are mainly used as boarding for dogs when their owners go on holiday.

“Dogbusters have asked that we do not publish the location of their kennels, as, along with other kennelling contractors, there have been incidences where people wanting to retrieve their dogs without claiming them correctly have subjected some to physical violence, or threats thereof.”

The fees are the Council’s published Stray Dog Fees which are available online along with further info: http://www.guildford.gov.uk/dogwarden
Jules Cranwell Reply

March 27, 2019 at 7:59 am

I have thoroughly researched dogbusters.

If they are a company, there are no records at Companies House of on the leading data services, including Dun & Bradstreet.

If they are a charity, there are no records at the Charity Commission.

I am unable to discover an address for this organisation.

We do not know where our pets will be housed, nor the conditions they will be kept in.

This seems to be another dark corner of GBC we are not permitted to peer into, and it is really quite alarming.

There appears to have been little, or ineffective due diligence, carried out by the lead councillor for licensing, and zero consultation with residents, as is usual for this council.