The owner of a Telford home for stray dogs has branded the number of pets dumped on the streets this Christmas as “awful”.

Marty Burrell, owner of Hillbrae Pets Hotel, has pleaded with owners to come and collect their pets as staff at the pound try to manage more than 75 dogs after the Christmas influx.

She said: “The last year overall has not been bad, but December was awful in terms of the number of dogs that have come in and not been reclaimed.

She added: “It makes me think they have been dumped.

“We have had 15 dogs come into us since Christmas Eve alone, and none of them have been collected.

“It puts a lot of pressure on us because we have more than 75 dogs now and it’s much better for a dog to be in someone’s home than in a kennel.

“We don’t put dogs down so we keep them until they are re-homed, which means we get very full.”

Mrs Burrell added owners could prevent any heartache by getting their dog chipped.

“Chipping does really work. I had a dog recently who was found in Telford and it was chipped and when I called the owner it turned out they lived in Essex.

“The dog was stolen and turned up in Telford and they drove all the way here to collect it, so it does work.

“People should also remember that if they move house or give the dog to someone else, they should let the chipping people know.

“I have rung phone numbers and found people have moved and it makes it very difficult for us to trace the owner.”

The pound at Cold Hatton in Telford is open every day to view the dogs from 12.30pm to 4pm.

“We have had people come to us and say they didn’t know we were open over Christmas and the New Year, but we want to remind people that we are open all the time,” she added.

“There is a phone number to call at any time of the day or night and the pound is open to look at the dogs every day.

“There are some very nice dogs that have come into us that need re-homing.”

Anyone who has lost a dog or would like to re-home one can contact Hillbrae Pets Hotel on (01952) 541254 or visit www.hilbrae.co.uk

Hillbrae takes in stray dogs from Telford, Shrewsbury and Newport.