6,223 cats and dogs missing from their homes

Dudley and Staffordshire are among the worst hit for animals which have vanished in the region.

Figures released by the Kennel Club revealed that a total of 6,223 cats or dogs have been recorded as lost or stolen across the West Midlands since 2003.

There are 4,773 cats and 1,459 dogs still missing.

The Dudley postcode area - which includes Tipton and Kidderminster - has a total of 443 cats and 146 dogs registered as missing with its Petlog database.

In the ST postcode area, which covers Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, a total of 816 pets have been recorded as missing, 193 dogs and 623 cats.

The Wolverhampton postcode area had 452 pets recorded as missing, 117 dogs and 335 cats, while in the WS Walsall postcode area - which includes Cannock, Rugeley and Lichfield, there were 483 pets missing, 121 dogs and 362 cats.

Unsurprisingly because of its size, the Birmingham postcode district - which includes most of Sandwell and Halesowen, had the largest number of pets reported as missing, with 374 dogs and 1,77 cats.

The animals had all been reported missing between 2003 and May 2014, and are still registered as lost or stolen.

The club is urging people to get their pets micro-chipped, saying that over the same period of time more than 4,000 lost dogs and 3,700 lost cats were reunited with their owners - meaning that 75 per cent of dogs and more than 45 per cent of cats were reunited thanks to their microchips.

Celia Walsom, who manages the Petlog scheme which helps reunite pet owners with their lost animals, said it was also important that pet owners ensured that the microchip database was kept up with the latest details.

"A microchip is a wonderful thing and helps to reunite tens of thousands of pets with their owners," she said.

"But it is not a magic wand and will not work if pet owners do not keep their contact details up to date with their microchipping database. A lot of families move house and change phone numbers making it impossible to reunite their pets in a lot of cases."

She added that June was National Microchipping Month which aimed to educate pet owners and encourage them to talk to their vets about microchipping.

Across England, there are 13,842 dogs registered as lost or stolen, and 50,581 cats.