Finding a stray dog

If you encounter a stray dog, follow this procedure:

1. Preliminarily assess the potential danger of the dog before approaching it;
2. Try to secure the dog (for example, if it is on the roadway, move it to the side or, preferably, to a nearby area); do not load the dog into your car to move it elsewhere or take it to the police;
3. Call the Municipal Police of the town to report the event and request immediate intervention for microchip scanning: you must identify yourself, give your full name, specify the exact location of the find, and request the officer's name and surname or, alternatively, the badge number of the officer answering the phone. It’s important to know this for a possible report of omission of official duties;
4. Inform them that the municipality is obligated to intervene to recover stray dogs (article 29 of Regional Law Tuscany 59/2009) and that failure to intervene could cause traffic accidents or pose a danger to road safety as well as to the dog itself. Failure to intervene results in responsibility for the person who refused to act.