The UK's oldest animal shelter says it had to put down roughly one third of the dogs it took in last year.
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home said it had no choice but to destroy 2,815 animals - of which 1,931 were healthy - because they were unsuitable to rehome.
The charity rehomes or returns about 5,000 dogs a year, but a growing number are put down because their behaviour means they pose a safety risk, it says.
The charity says the issue of stray, aggressive dogs needs to be addressed.
'Enough is enough'
Scott Craddock, director of operations at the home which does not turn away stray or unwanted dogs, told the BBC's Panorama that the figures were "shocking" and said he believed animal rescues were being left to "mop up" a problem created by wider society.
"We need to highlight exactly what is going on and we feel we've come to a point where enough is enough," he said of the decision to release details for the first time since the mid-1990s of the number of healthy dogs being destroyed.
FIND OUT MORE
Continue reading the main story
* Panorama: Britain's Unwanted Pets, BBC One, Monday, 2 August at 2030BST
* Then in the UK on BBC iPlayer
"What people are doing to some of these dogs and the state they are coming in to us is completely unacceptable," he added.
He said all dogs coming into the home were thoroughly assessed to check if they could be safely rehomed, and for those deemed suitable there was no time limit on a dog's stay as some can take many months to attract new owners.
The Staffordshire bull terrier - staffies - and dogs crossbred with them, are among the most common found in kennels at Battersea, which has centres in central London, Old Windsor, in Berkshire, and Brands Hatch, in Kent.
'Status' dogs
Officials say the number of staffies coming into Battersea has leapt 850% since 1996 and they often lack basic training that allows them to get along with other dogs or sometimes even people.
Dog wardens in many parts of the country have also reported rising numbers of stray staffies in recent years and animal shelters, which do not discriminate on intake, are full of them.
Yet pet shops and breeders are still able to sell young staffies for hundreds of pounds. While pups are in demand, adults are in surplus.
The tragedy for the staffie is that it looks similar to the pit-bull, now banned under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.
Hard-looking dogs have become a status symbol, and staffies - once regarded simply as a loyal family pet - have become a victim of that fashion.
stray dogs in kennel The number of Staffordshire bull terriers and crosses coming in to Battersea has leapt 850% since 1996
Sgt Ian McParland of the Metropolitan Police has witnessed the trend.
"Staffies are lovely family dogs. But they're crossing them ... and kids are breeding all sorts now. They're obviously trying to create a pit-bull a lot of the time but a lot of the offshoots of that get abandoned."
However, animal welfare organisations believe the problem with unwanted dogs goes beyond one breed.
Dog licences
The RSPCA, the UK's largest animal charity, said it had been forced to close its doors to the increasing number of discarded animals in order to concentrate on rescuing those genuinely at risk of cruelty.
"Last year, 2009, we killed 533 healthy dogs. And you'll notice I used the word kill there rather than put to sleep or humanely euthanise. There's been enough euphemism, we really need to tell it how it is," said the RSPCA's Tim Wass.
Mr Wass said he believed some dog owners took more responsibility for their furniture than their dogs and blamed "uncontrollable breeding, the lack of responsibility, and the lack of duty of care" for the problem.
BATTERSEA IN 2009
Continue reading the main story
* 7,866 dogs were brought in
* 2,815 dogs had to be put to sleep
* 1,931 of the dogs put down were healthy
"The buck has to stop somewhere and too often … it is the needle in the hands of an RSPCA officer and that has got to be wrong."
According to a recent survey by the University of Bristol, the dog population in Britain has risen to 10 million.
Battersea, the Metropolitan Police and the RSPCA are all lobbying government to introduce a registration or licence scheme paid for by the owner which would reliably link a dog to the person responsible for it.
But the government fears a licence might just end up taxing the careful dog owner and leave the irresponsible untouched.
In an interview, Department of Food, Rural Affairs and Agriculture Under-Secretary Lord Henley, who is responsible for dangerous dogs, said he was "not convinced" a dog licence was the way forward.
"We've had licence in the past and we all know what's happened to that - a great deal of non-compliance."
source: BBC News - Battersea sees 'shocking' rise in stray aggressive dogs
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home said it had no choice but to destroy 2,815 animals - of which 1,931 were healthy - because they were unsuitable to rehome.
The charity rehomes or returns about 5,000 dogs a year, but a growing number are put down because their behaviour means they pose a safety risk, it says.
The charity says the issue of stray, aggressive dogs needs to be addressed.
'Enough is enough'
Scott Craddock, director of operations at the home which does not turn away stray or unwanted dogs, told the BBC's Panorama that the figures were "shocking" and said he believed animal rescues were being left to "mop up" a problem created by wider society.
"We need to highlight exactly what is going on and we feel we've come to a point where enough is enough," he said of the decision to release details for the first time since the mid-1990s of the number of healthy dogs being destroyed.
FIND OUT MORE
Continue reading the main story
* Panorama: Britain's Unwanted Pets, BBC One, Monday, 2 August at 2030BST
* Then in the UK on BBC iPlayer
"What people are doing to some of these dogs and the state they are coming in to us is completely unacceptable," he added.
He said all dogs coming into the home were thoroughly assessed to check if they could be safely rehomed, and for those deemed suitable there was no time limit on a dog's stay as some can take many months to attract new owners.
The Staffordshire bull terrier - staffies - and dogs crossbred with them, are among the most common found in kennels at Battersea, which has centres in central London, Old Windsor, in Berkshire, and Brands Hatch, in Kent.
'Status' dogs
Officials say the number of staffies coming into Battersea has leapt 850% since 1996 and they often lack basic training that allows them to get along with other dogs or sometimes even people.
Dog wardens in many parts of the country have also reported rising numbers of stray staffies in recent years and animal shelters, which do not discriminate on intake, are full of them.
Yet pet shops and breeders are still able to sell young staffies for hundreds of pounds. While pups are in demand, adults are in surplus.
The tragedy for the staffie is that it looks similar to the pit-bull, now banned under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.
Hard-looking dogs have become a status symbol, and staffies - once regarded simply as a loyal family pet - have become a victim of that fashion.
stray dogs in kennel The number of Staffordshire bull terriers and crosses coming in to Battersea has leapt 850% since 1996
Sgt Ian McParland of the Metropolitan Police has witnessed the trend.
"Staffies are lovely family dogs. But they're crossing them ... and kids are breeding all sorts now. They're obviously trying to create a pit-bull a lot of the time but a lot of the offshoots of that get abandoned."
However, animal welfare organisations believe the problem with unwanted dogs goes beyond one breed.
Dog licences
The RSPCA, the UK's largest animal charity, said it had been forced to close its doors to the increasing number of discarded animals in order to concentrate on rescuing those genuinely at risk of cruelty.
"Last year, 2009, we killed 533 healthy dogs. And you'll notice I used the word kill there rather than put to sleep or humanely euthanise. There's been enough euphemism, we really need to tell it how it is," said the RSPCA's Tim Wass.
Mr Wass said he believed some dog owners took more responsibility for their furniture than their dogs and blamed "uncontrollable breeding, the lack of responsibility, and the lack of duty of care" for the problem.
BATTERSEA IN 2009
Continue reading the main story
* 7,866 dogs were brought in
* 2,815 dogs had to be put to sleep
* 1,931 of the dogs put down were healthy
"The buck has to stop somewhere and too often … it is the needle in the hands of an RSPCA officer and that has got to be wrong."
According to a recent survey by the University of Bristol, the dog population in Britain has risen to 10 million.
Battersea, the Metropolitan Police and the RSPCA are all lobbying government to introduce a registration or licence scheme paid for by the owner which would reliably link a dog to the person responsible for it.
But the government fears a licence might just end up taxing the careful dog owner and leave the irresponsible untouched.
In an interview, Department of Food, Rural Affairs and Agriculture Under-Secretary Lord Henley, who is responsible for dangerous dogs, said he was "not convinced" a dog licence was the way forward.
"We've had licence in the past and we all know what's happened to that - a great deal of non-compliance."
source: BBC News - Battersea sees 'shocking' rise in stray aggressive dogs
