More than 100,000 stray dogs were captured by local councils

The Dogs Trust, Britain's largest dog welfare charity, says animals were put to sleep because owners could not be traced or no homes found for them.

The research found more than 100,000 dogs were picked up by local councils in 2003 or an average of one stray dog for every 557 people in the country.

The North East was one of the few areas of the UK which showed an increase in the number of stray dogs collected in 2003, with a rise of 28%.

Despite a UK-wide decrease of 2% in the number of destructions of dogs, London saw a rise of 41%, southern England a 35% increase and Northern Ireland a 15% increase.

Scotland reported a 34% drop in stray dogs passed over to the local authorities and a 6% decrease in dogs being put down.

Dogs Trust chief executive, Clarissa Baldwin, said: "These figures are disturbing because of the sheer numbers of stray dogs being needlessly killed each year.

"Every dog should be a wanted dog and Dogs Trust will continue to fight for an end to this unnecessary destruction.

"Nationally we can see that this problem is solvable and we are calling on the nation's dog owners to help us achieve this aim sooner rather than later."

The charity has called for owners to neuter and microchip their dogs.