More than 110,000 stray and abandoned dogs were picked up by local authorities across the UK in the past year.

In Bradford, the local authority received 1,723 requests to deal with strays over a year, from April 2012 to 2013, and 661 were taken to kennels. In the past five months, the Council received 708 requests to deal with strays and 205 dogs were put into kennels.

According to The Dogs Trust’s annual stray dog survey, 111,986 stray and abandoned dogs were picked up by local authorities over the last 12 months.

While this represents a six per cent decrease in the previous year, the figure still equates to 307 stray dogs found each day. The highest increase was recorded in Yorkshire (43 per cent).

A quarter were transferred to welfare organisations for rehoming, while nine per cent were rehomed through local authorities.

Yet many more dogs could have been returned to their owners if they had been microchipped.

Making owners more accountable for their pets is something that animal charities have been calling for to help tackle the stray dog situation, and now their calls have been answered following the Government’s decision to make microchipping compulsory in England in 2016.

Dogs Trust chief executive Clarissa Baldwin said there was “clearly still a problem”.

“We work very closely with local authorities who should be commended on their efforts to encourage responsible dog ownership, which is reflected in the reduction in strays,” she says.

“They do not want to put dogs to sleep but they are struggling to cope with such huge numbers of dogs in a difficult economic climate.

“Simple steps such as microchipping can help prevent accidental strays. The fact that more dogs are being reunited with their owners because of microchips is a huge step forward.

“We are delighted with the Government’s commitment to introduce compulsory microchipping by 2016. However we hope this alarming number of stray dogs will remind dog owners to ensure that their dog is microchipped and that their contact details are kept up to date to improve the chances of their dogs being returned to them should they stray.”

Terry Singh, former Bradford dog warden and now the manager of Bradford’s RSPCA branch, also welcomed compulsory microchipping, which he says will put the responsibility on the owner.

“There are additional costs in treatment in dog attacks through the NHS, additional costs for the police being involved and other organisations and charities. If you had a proper system where the person who owned the dog was more accountable, that responsibility and cost would be on them and they should take that responsibility,” he said.

Terry says dogs are constantly being found in the city and handed in, and often the dog isn’t a stray but has been allowed to roam by its owner.

He says there are an estimated 50,000 dogs in Bradford at any one time. “And you can anticipate a fifth would be ‘latch key dogs’ that are allowed to wander.

“It is an easy option when people don’t have accountability and there is no proper control,” he says.

Terry says microchipping is “long overdue”.

“We need people to be made accountable for their actions, and not the dog. I don’t think people really consider sometimes how serious a commitment dog ownership needs to be.

“They really need to think when they take on a dog that it is a life, not a product, and there are daily processes – you have to look after the dog, feed it, take it out, it can be very demanding. People often don’t realise what it means having a dog.

“We should be a nation of animal keepers as well as a nation of animal lovers.”

Councillor Andrew Thornton, portfolio holder on Bradford Council for environment, sport and sustainability, says: “We encourage everyone to microchip their dog so that if it does go missing and our wardens find it then we can easily reunite it with its owner.”