BEST practice in animal welfare in Dorset has been recognised by the RSPCA.

Dorset County Council was awarded runner-up in the Innovator category of the charity's PawPrint awards.

Judges recognised the supportive and practical events they offer to small farmers, providing them with the skills, knowledge and resources that would allow them to be aware of and achieve high welfare outcomes for their animals without the frequent inspections that the smaller Trading Standards team were no longer able to provide.

At a ceremony in London 77 public sector organisations were recognised for their outstanding achievement in animal welfare.

The RSPCA’s awards, which are celebrating a ten year anniversary, also saw the release of a brand new report written by the charity - Ten Ideas in 10 Years - highlighting the ten most outstanding animal welfare initiatives the RSPCA has seen over the last decade through the awards. The report also highlighted the difficulty councils face with the threat of budget cuts.

Rachel Williams, senior parliamentary advisor for the RSPCA, said: “The PawPrints awards are something the RSPCA is immensely proud of. This is an extremely special year for us as we mark the tenth anniversary of the Awards and we have been so impressed with the standard of entries to both the PawPrints awards, and the special anniversary awards.

“It’s always so rewarding to celebrate the winners and their inspiring initiatives and hear just what a huge impact their work has had on animal welfare locally, but this year is particularly special because we are also celebrating the outstanding work that’s gone on during the last ten years.

“The organisations who have shown us year on year just how much hard work goes on behind the scenes to improve animal welfare locally really do deserve to be celebrated, and often their pioneering ideas have changed the lives of not only animals but local people too.”

Over the past 10 years, more than 900 awards have been given through the RSPCA PawPrint Awards, recognising and celebrating public service organisations that go above and beyond to ensure high animal welfare standards in their communities. These can include anything from pioneering initiatives to see more stray dogs safely into kennels, schemes to safeguard pets whose owners have been taken into care and housing policies that allow tenants to share their home with their pets.

The Bronze, Silver and Gold PawPrints Awards awards recognise achievements in Stray Dog Services, Contingency Planning, Housing and Animal Activity Licensing with four councils receiving a special Diamond Award for consistent Gold wins for all ten years - including an unprecedented double Diamond Award for London Borough of Wandsworth, who have held Gold Awards in both Stray Dog Services and Housing for a full decade.

The awards were once again supported by the Local Government Association, along with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

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