Before 6th April 2008 responsibility for stray dogs was shared between the Police and the local authority. On 6th April 2008, section 68 of the Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act (CNEA) 2005 commenced, which passes the responsibility for dealing with stray dogs on to local authorities and as such Lewisham took on this responsibility.

As the number of stray dogs has been increasing, Officers have been working in partnership with a number of agencies to tackle this and other animal ownership issues. In October 2008 the BARK project was launched (Borough Action for Responsible K9?s).

BARK is a project set up by Lewisham Council, The RSPCA, Lewisham Police Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT?s) and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, to target the issues surrounding anti-social behaviour with dogs and the irresponsible use and mistreatment of dogs.

Lewisham is also only one of 14 local authorities across the country that has a Gold RSPCA Community Animal Welfare Footprint Award for dealing with stray dogs.