Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Ms B’s complaint about decisions the Council has taken regarding a stray dog. The Ombudsman cannot investigate matters that have been the subject of court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms B, complains the Council failed to tell the finder of a stray dog of her rights, tried to have the dog put to sleep and then kept the dog in kennels for seven months until she died. Ms B says people had offered to provide a home for the dog and it distresses her that the dog was kept in kennels rather than being re-homed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the information provided by Ms B and the Council and information regarding the matter that is available online. I sent a draft decision to Ms B and considered the comments she made in reply before I made my final decision.

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What I found

5. The Council was made aware of the stray dog by the person who found her (Person X). Person X had offered to provide a home for the dog if her owner could not be found. The Council initially assessed the dog as being dangerous and sought to euthanise her as it considered it was unsafe to re-home her.
6. Person X applied to the High Court for a Judicial Review of the Council’s decision to euthanise the dog. They also applied to the Court to make a decision on whether the dog could be re-homed with them. The Court granted the application to prevent the euthanising of the dog. Proceedings to decide whether the dog could be re-homed with Person X were ongoing and the Council had undertaken to continue to care for the dog and not put her to sleep. The dog died in September 2019 before any decision on re-homing her had been made by the courts or the Council.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the Council’s decisions regarding the dog have been the subject of court proceedings and the Ombudsman has no power to investigate.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman