It is also inoculated microchipped and neutered or spayed if that hasn't already been done

It is also inoculated, microchipped, and neutered or spayed if that hasn't already been done. "We try not to use the word `castrated' in the pre-adoption classes," says Claire. "It makes the blokes uncomfortable."The reception office reminded me of a waiting room in a doctor's surgery. There is a long padded bench to sit on and a rack of educational leaflets on the wall. A poster reads, "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than himself." There is another with the NCDL's arresting "Toys aren't us" slogan and, beside this, a mission statement: "The National Canine Defence League exists to protect and defend all dogs from abuse, cruelty, abandonment and any form of mistreatment." The charity is committed to the belief that no healthy dog should ever be destroyed and that all dogs should be protected, wanted, homed for life and cared for by responsible owners.According to their annual report, the NCDL cared for 10,834 dogs at their 13 rescue centres last year. Of these, 8,161 wore rehomed or returned to their owners, and 53 died, leaving just under 2,000 dogs in care by the end of the year.At the front desk, Carol Young, who has been running the office for two years, was helping a couple to find a dog - preferably a Doberman.

Carol handed them the standard NCDL "Homefinding Form" ("A Dog is for Life") Another man was filling in an application form for a dog I sneaked a look at his half-completed form. Next to the question: "Why do you want a dog?" he had written in capital letters: "friendship". Then two middle-aged women wearing identical raincoats came in and said that they wanted to become volunteer dog-walkers. They, too, were set to filling out forms.A big black male Labrador burst through the door, closely followed by Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council dog warden Tony Wilkinson Tony looked as though he had just lost a trial of strength The Labrador was a strapping, healthy-looking beast. He jogged around the room, smiling and panting and swinging his muscular tail in such a wide arc that the whole of his rear end moved with it. He hadn't a clue why he was there, but seemed happy about it.The young kennel staff crowded in to the office to look at him.

Anoraks muddy and torn, hair dripping, they were excited by the arrival of a new dog, as if 160 weren't quite enough. One thought she recognised him, and a sensor was run over the dog to see whether he had been "chipped" He had: there was a microchip between his shoulder-blades Carol called up his details on the computer His name was Sabre, and he had been in several times before. Sabre's owner was rung and asked to come and collect him.Carol found herself with 30 seconds to spare and told me about the last phone call. It was from the owner of an old people's home seeking advice about her five-year-old Collie, Sonny, who had taken to rounding up the elderly residents and herding them about like sheep. He singled out the most bewildered residents for special attention, and nipped at them until they got in line.Alison Rowbowtham is a Behaviour Counsellor who comes to Roden twice a week, and specialises in dogs with aggression problems "Who do you counsel?" I asked her "The people or the dogs?" "Well, the owners really But we tell them it's for the dogs What we do is try to show them the dogs' point of view. Unfortunately a lot of people think their dog has human values. And that means they think they are entitled to treat it as they would a person.

Especially when it gets it wrong."It's back to that old anthropomorphism business again. Alison spoke to me as if I were one of her rescue dogs, putting as much meaning into her tone of voice as she does into her choice of words. "Of course people treat dogs like humans with the best will in the world," she assured me. "A dog has a knack of looking as though it understands us, as if it has exactly the same emotions as we do, and people assume it has an almost human understanding of the world. But it doesn't really understand what is happening at all."The way we ask our dogs to live now is so different from the way it was 30, 20, even 10 years ago.