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St Albans dog warden: getting your dog back

If St Albans 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 St Albans.

What St Albans charges

£99after one night in kennels

£25 legal fee, £44 admin fee (£72 if not correctly microchipped) and £30 a day in kennels

The total is for a correctly microchipped dog. Delivery home costs £75.

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

St Albans council's stray dog page · no year given

How it compares

  • The 8th cheapest of the 29 councils in the East of England whose fees give a one-night total.
  • The middle cost in the East of England: £115.
  • Across the UK: £100, from 186 councils. 13 charge £200 or more.

Every UK council's fees

If your dog is missing in St Albans

  1. Call St Albans 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 St Albans charge to get a dog back from the dog warden?+

About £99 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, £44 admin fee (£72 if not correctly microchipped) and £30 a day in kennels. The total is for a correctly microchipped dog. Delivery home costs £75. Vet treatment is extra.

How long does St Albans 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 St Albans. 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 East of England