Pembrokeshire County Council has achieved two awards in RSPCA Cymru’s Community Animal Welfare Footprint (CAWF) awards 2016.

The council won silver in the stray dog award category and bronze in the animal establishment licensing section.

The winners were presented with their awards by RSPCA Cymru board chair and RSPCA council member Paul Baxter and RSPCA assistant director external relations - Wales, Claire Lawson.

Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths AM also attended the ceremony, which took place in Cardiff on Wednesday (October 12), to congratulate all the winners.

The county council’s principal environmental health officer, Tom Hayes, was presented with the silver award and head of public protection, Mark Elliott, with the bronze.

The authority’s cabinet member for environmental and regulatory services, Clr. Huw George, said: “I am very pleased that yet again Pembrokeshire County Council is providing award winning services.

“Dog warden services are proving to be financially challenging and we need to identify funding streams. For example, an annual dog registration fee as identified in the recent RSPCA report for Welsh Government on responsible dog ownership in Wales.

“We look forward to the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary’s response on this in the near future.”

This year, a record 16 awards were achieved by 14 organisations across Wales in four categories - stray dog provision, contingency planning, housing provision and animal establishment licensing.

Bronze, silver and gold standards were awarded, depending on the level of service provided by the authority or organisation.