South Lanarkshire stray dog kennelling costs more than double

South Lanarkshire Council recorded kennelling costs of £13,960 for up to the end of 2025, compared with £6,399 for the whole of 2024/25.

Separate figures show just three stray dogs were taken into the council's care during the 2025 calendar year, down from 30 in 2024.

The figures were published in an April 2026 response to a freedom of information request about the handling of stray dogs and kennelling arrangements.

However, the dog figures cover calendar years while the kennelling costs are recorded by financial year.

This means the two sets of figures cannot be directly compared to calculate a cost per dog.

The council has explained that its previous kennelling contractor did not renew its services at the end of 2024, leaving it having to find alternative arrangements.

A South Lanarkshire Council spokesperson said: "The previous contractor didn't renew kennelling services at the end of 2024 so we had to seek an alternative to fulfil our statutory duties under the Stray Dogs legislation."

The FOI response states the council's contract with the Scottish SPCA ended in January 2025 and that the local authority set up its own kennelling arrangements in mid-2025.

Of the three stray dogs recorded in the council's care in 2025, two were returned to their owners and one went to a rescue organisation.

That compares with 2024, when 16 of the 30 dogs were returned to their owners and 14 went to rescue organisations.

Previous figures show 39 stray dogs were taken into the council's care in 2021, followed by 33 in 2022 and 27 in 2023.

Kennelling costs have also varied over the period, standing at £7,950 in 2021/22, £9,143 in 2022/23 and £5,087 in 2023/24.