BOLTON Animal Shelter has renewed its appeal for dog owners to fit their pet with an identity disc - after a record day for strays. In just 12 hours yesterday, the Northolt Drive shelter had 20 new lost dogs to deal with.

That was a record in any single day for the centre, which was already bursting at the seams with 65 stray dogs to care for.

None of the 20 dogs taken in yesterday had an identity disc.

But that didn't stop the hard pressed centre staff from creating another single-day record - by reuniting 11 of the 20 dogs with their owners before the day was out.

Seven were traced through the shelter's lost and found records and another four after frantic owners turned up on the shelter doorstep.

Manager Neil Martin said: "It turned out quite well in the end, but it would have been so much easier if we had been able to simply read a metal disc."

"There is really no excuse for a dog not having one because we will actually provide a disc and inscribe it free for anyone who cares to call in."

"Unless more people start looking after their dogs we are going to rapidly reach the state where we simply cannot cope here. It really is getting that bad."

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