One dog owner, who requested to remain unidentified, said a council staff member told her he was "used to" people being upset about their dogs being put down after they had been identified.

She said her Staffy-cross, Jacqueline, escaped from her yard while neighbours were working on a common fence.

The dog owner said her story was similar to that of Georgie Martin, whose dog Biscuit was killed by the council after being in the pound for just two days.

"My husband went down there on a Friday and he could see her in the cage. I rang the pound and asked if I could come get her tomorrow. But because it was Friday, they said I'd have to come get her on Monday," Jacqueline's owner said.

"I went in to get her on Monday and she wasn't there."

But Jacqueline's owner was surprised by the council officer's response to her questions about what had happened.

"He said sometimes bits of paper get lost around here and I'm not the person who does the terminations. He said sometimes there's a bit of a breakdown in communication.

"I was pretty upset by it, and it took me a while to realise it was true. I kept going back to the pound to have a look."

After overhearing a conversation between staff and another dog owner at the pound, Jacqueline's owner believed this was a common occurrence.

"When my partner arrived at the pound there were two other people in front of us. The guy that was in the front had his dog in there for a week. He hadn't been able to afford to get her out."

Jacqueline's owner said the man was told in front of his two children that his dog had been put down.

"He said he'd rung every single day explaining this, and was asking how this had happened?"

Jacqueline's owner said the pound's opening hours were grossly insufficient.

"9am to 10am is not enough."