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Southampton dog warden: getting your dog back

If Southampton council's dog warden service picks up your dog, you pay its fees before you can take them home. Here's what it charges, from its own website (October 2026), and what to do if your dog goes missing in Southampton.

What Southampton charges

£83after one night in kennels

£25 legal fee, £7 admin charge (including a free ID tag) and £51 for the first day in kennels, then £27 a day

Microchipping at reclaim, if needed, costs £25.

For a microchipped dog with correct details, collected in working hours and picked up the next day in office hours. Vet treatment is extra.

Southampton council's stray dog page · fees for 2026/27

How it compares

  • The 5th cheapest of the 36 councils in the South East whose fees give a one-night total.
  • The middle cost in the South East: £131.25.
  • Across the UK: £100, from 186 councils. 13 charge £200 or more.

Every UK council's fees

If your dog is missing in Southampton

  1. Call Southampton council's dog warden or stray dog service now (its number is on its stray dog page), and the neighbouring councils too: dogs travel. Give a description, a photo and the microchip number.
  2. Ask them to check their register of stray dogs, which councils must keep and anyone can see free. The council only has to keep a stray for seven clear days.
  3. Tell your microchip database your dog is missing. Not sure which one? Our microchip number checker shows you.
  4. Ring vets and rescues nearby, post in local groups, and put up posters: the free lost dog poster maker takes a minute.
  5. When you collect, bring proof your dog is yours (microchip paperwork, vet records, photos) and a way to pay.

The full steps are in our lost dog checklist and our guide to getting your dog back from the dog warden.

Questions

How much does Southampton charge to get a dog back from the dog warden?+

About £83 for a microchipped dog kept one night and collected the next day in office hours, worked out from the council's own fee list (October 2026): £25 legal fee, £7 admin charge (including a free ID tag) and £51 for the first day in kennels, then £27 a day. Microchipping at reclaim, if needed, costs £25. Vet treatment is extra.

How long does Southampton keep a stray dog?+

By law (section 149 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990), seven clear days. After that the council can rehome your dog, so call as soon as your dog goes missing. Kennel costs go up each day.

I've found a dog in Southampton. What do I do?+

Check its tag first, and scan a QR tag if it has one: returning a dog to its owner costs them nothing. Otherwise the law (section 150 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990) says to take it to the council's dog warden service straight away and say where you found it.

Other councils in the South East