crisis , Dogs Trust said . Some households tighten their belts by giving up the dog . Another possible reason for the jump : England and Wales last year changed the law to make local councils , not police , responsible for taking in stray dogs , Dogs Trust said . Cash-strapped councils might lack resources to pick up or temporarily shelter dogs . `` You 've got a lot of latchkey dogs that are just left to wander the streets , '' said Natalie Dexter , who works at the education center at Dogs Trust . `` Their homes are n't secure , gardens are n't secure , and so they 're just left to wander around . '' Local authorities handle an average of 12 dogs each hour , Dogs Trust said . Only five are reunited with their owners -- a number that could increase if more dogs were microchipped , Dogs Trust said . A microchip is an electronic device , coated in plastic , that is the size of a grain of rice . It is implanted just under a dog 's skin , beneath its shoulder blades , which causes no harm to the
LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The number of stray and abandoned dogs in the United Kingdom jumped by 11 percent in the past year -- the biggest surge in a decade -- possibly because of the financial crisis , a British dog charity said Wednesday . A dog looks through the door of its kennel at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in London . Dogs Trust said local authorities picked up 107,228 stray and abandoned dogs from British streets in the past year . It called on the government to make microchipping compulsory for all dogs to help reunite owners with pets , whether lost or abandoned . `` The latest stray dog survey is very disappointing , '' said Clarissa Baldwin , chief executive of Dogs Trust . `` Even more tragically is the number of dogs that are being put down , which has gone up from 7,000 to just below 10,000 , a very worrying trend . '' Has recession hit your pet ? Send us your thoughts The 11 percent rise is the highest yearly increase since recordkeeping began in 1997 , Dogs Trust said . The rise may be due to the financial