City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet has approved a requirement for any dog in a public place to wear a collar and tag with the owner’s name and address or other contact details on it.
The new requirement, agreed by Cabinet on September 2, aims to help officers identify stray dogs and reunite them with their owners.
The measure has been introduced under an update to the city’s Dog Control Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which will come into force on October 1. A public consultation about the order was carried out earlier this year.
The council handles between 280 and 350 stray dogs a year and less than five per cent have ID tags. Dogs found roaming without a collar and tag in public may be seized and taken into care. During 2025/26, this management of stray dogs cost the council around £120,000.
Wearing of an ID collar and tag in a public place is already an existing legal requirement but inclusion in the PSPO will allow anyone who doesn’t comply to be dealt with by a Fixed Penalty Notice rather than a prosecution.
The updated PSPO, which will run from 2026 to 2029, aims to make the city safer, cleaner and more comfortable for everyone.
Anyone who does not comply with the order may face an on-the-spot fine of £100 and could face the possibility of being taken to court.
The measures contained in the order do not apply to assistance dogs.
Alongside the new collar and tag requirement, 11 existing measures which were included in the 2023-26 PSPO will continue.
These are:
It is an offence to allow your dog to foul in any public place and fail to clean it up immediately.
Anyone in control of a dog must carry a suitable means of removing dog mess; and must provide their names and address when asked to do so by an authorised officer.
Owners are not allowed to let their dogs into specified water spots such as Tettenhall Pool or the fountain in Queen Square Wolverhampton. Dogs must also be kept on a lead in council-operated cemeteries.
Dogs are to be kept on a lead by major arterial roads of the city, when within a 100-metre radius of school or academy entrances and when within certain areas of Northycote Farm.
Dogs are prohibited from entering fenced children’s play areas, from entering fenced tennis courts within the city and must be put on a lead at the request of any authorised officer who reasonably believes the dog to be a nuisance.
Owners continue to be required to keep their dogs under control. This means making sure they are able to be recalled, do not run up to other dogs and do not cause nuisance to other walkers, dogs and their owners.
A 12-week public consultation carried out earlier this year showed public support for the PSPO, including more than 70% in favour of adding the new measure of the collar/tag and contact details.
People continue to be strongly in favour of the existing measures which relate to dog waste, including clearing fouling immediately (95.4%) and of carrying a means of removing dog waste (90.1%).
Other support related to dogs on leads near main roads (89.4%), dogs on leads in cemeteries and on leads within 100 metres of schools (both 88.7%) and no dogs in children’s play areas (84.8%).
A proposal which asked people their views on dogs wearing a lead across the whole of Northycote Farm rather than just certain areas saw a mixture of views. This measure will therefore remain in its current form and be reviewed during the next PSPO update.
Councillor Qaiser Azeem, cabinet member for resident services at City of Wolverhampton Council, said: “We are very grateful to everyone who responded to our PSPO public consultation. It gave people chance to share their views on the measures in the order.
“The opinions showed a good level of support for the introduction of the new collar and tag requirement, as well as agreement with the continuation of existing measures.
“Where there was a mixture of opinion around leads at Northycote Farm, we have listened to the views received and we are not extending this measure during this update but we will continue to monitor the situation.
“We know that the vast majority of dog owners are very responsible and we would encourage all owners to follow the safety measures to help us create a clean and safe public environment.”
