Houndmistress

About Me

Welcome to Houndmistress.  I'm Kathryn Woodhouse, the site author and designer. 

I set up this site as we are the devoted owners of three greyhounds, all adopted from Greyhound Rescue Wales (GRW).  Like all reputable dog welfare charities, it insists on dogs being chipped before adoption; like all responsible owners, we ensured our dogs always wore ID and I was reassured to think that in the unlikely event of them being lost, they would be scanned and returned to us. 

As a volunteer for the charity, I heard of a number of worrying instances where stray dogs seemed to be falling through some of the cracks in the system.  Simultaneously, I got involved with the charity's participation in WG's consultation on dog welfare, particularly puppy farming and the issue of microchipping as an animal welfare concern.  I began to research Council policies across Wales, and soon found to my horror that there was enormous variation, finding out the details was a pain in the proverbial and that scanning could not be expected in all areas, especially outside office hours. And let's face it, when do most dog owners enjoy walking further afield?  It's certainly not on a Monday morning. 

Very quickly, I began to accumulate piles of data and information and realised I was on to something important.   Although the existing  findings were shared with GRW, and I've already made them available to all Welsh local authorities I decided they could be shared more widely.  These days, setting up a website is a relatively simple exercise.  I hope the information I have already gathered and will continue to seek, will be useful for dog owners, campaigners, politicians  and local authorities themselves. Most importantly of all, I hope that in some small way, it will contribute to the better treatment of dogs in Wales.    As far as I know, this level of detail on stray dogs policy and practice in Wales has not previously been gathered together in one place.  I look forward to hearing about how the data gathered here can be and has been used to improve dog welfare.

 Houndmistress is a voluntary site that is run and funded personally. Although I am a supporter of GRW, this site is a personal one, and so does not necessarily reflect the charity's policies.  The site does not accept any donations, advertisements or support from any company, organisation or body except for the provision of information which is publicly available.  I am not a member of any political party or group.  I welcome corrections and suggestions for improved site content. 

Page updated on 29th August 2011. 

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