A Forest of Dean woman “had to jump through hoops” and pay a £65 charge to get her missing dog back after it was found in her village, taken to a vets in Worcester and ended up in a dog pound.

Tanya Tennant who lives in Dymock, said her dog Luca went missing from her home on January 14 just after 5pm.

She says a woman found her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel on the Kempley-Dymock road at around 6pm.

She saw a post on social media about the missing dog and contacted Ms Tennant the next day.

“The woman who picked him up on the Kempley-Dymock road rang me at around 11am and said ‘I picked your dog up last night”, she said.

Ms Tennant said she told her she had taken him to the vets in Worcester some 30 miles away because no other vets were open.

However, when Ms Tennant called the vets they told her Luca had been passed onto Worcestershire Regulatory Services who deal with stray and lost dogs in that county claiming her dog was not microchipped.

“The woman meant well,” she said. “But the people at fault are the vets.”

“I was crying my little eyes out. I thought I would never see him again.

“If that woman hadn’t phoned me to say where she’d taken him I might have never got him back.”

She said she “had to go jump hoops to get him back” and is not happy with how she was spoken to by customer services at Worcestershire Regulatory Services.

“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” she said.

She said the vets claimed the dog was not microchipped.

However, Ms Tennant has paperwork showing Luca is registered with Petlog, the UK’s largest government-compliant pet microchip database.

After managing to speak to someone from Worcestershire Regulatory Services she said she was sent a link and told to fill in the form and pay £65.

Ms Tennant paid the amount because she was desperate to get her dog back but says she does not know why she was charged this figure.

But was reunited with Luca at Malvern Police Station the next day.

A Vets Now spokesperson said they understand how upsetting it is when a pet goes missing and empathise with the distress caused to Ms Tennant.

“Our teams always aim to act in the best interests of animals brought into our care, following established procedures when a pet appears to be unaccompanied.

“This includes checking for a microchip using approved scanners and, where no chip is detected or the chip hasn’t been registered, ensuring the animal is transferred safely to the appropriate local authority so it can be reunited with its owner as quickly as possible. Any fees charged for the return of the dog are set by the local authority and are not determined by Vets Now.”

A Spokesperson for Malvern Hills District Council said they understand the distress that comes with losing a dog and the Worcestershire Regulatory Services team always endeavour to respond to calls with the utmost consideration for the situation.

“As an organisation, Worcestershire Regulatory Services’ top priority is the welfare of dogs that come into their care.

“Within an hour of seizing the dog from the vets, our wardens were able to identify the dog, notify its owner and started the usual procedure of returning the pet.

“The charge is set based upon The Government’s Statutory Fine and additional fees cover the cost of boarding and looking after stray dogs. Charges go through Bromsgrove District Council due to the council hosting the county-wide shared public service.

“We understand the distress that comes with losing a dog and our WRS Customer Services team always endeavour to respond to calls with the utmost professionalism and consideration for the situation.”