Dogs on the Dole

Episode 1

Dogs on the Dole

Takes a light-hearted look into the world of dog ownership on Britain's housing estates. There are 8.5 million dogs in Britain. Once simply man's best friend, now we know them as designer dogs, dangerous dogs and dinky dogs. Whatever the breed, dogs have become the pet of choice across the UK. The rise of dogs as status symbols and the trading of puppies from back yard breeding to feed this demand has led to the number of strays on the streets of Britain rising from 97,000 in the mid noughties to over 110,000 this year. In areas where money is tight the number of strays goes up - with the North East seeing the highest proportion of abandoned dogs in the country. As fads and fashions change, dogs that get abandoned find themselves at the mercy of the local authorities and last year nearly 9000 of these stray dogs were put to sleep.