IT’S the things that you don’t see as much as those you do that tell you whether you’ve got a good environment.

One thing I have noticed around Middlesbrough – or rather haven’t – in recent weeks is stray dogs.

How we have dealt with this problem is a good example of what I call the quiet success of local government – with some help, of course, from a voluntary sector partner.

Go back ten years or more and stray and abandoned dogs were a huge problem in this and other parts of Teesside. The numbers and the way of dealing with them, which involved the destruction of hundreds of healthy animals, was unacceptable.

So, the council got into a partnership with the Dog’s Trust, in Sadberge, which I visited last week. Incidentally, in doing so, I added another to my list of jobs that I thought I would never be brave enough to do.

The route we went down wasn’t quick and it wasn’t easy. It involved that most difficult of things – changing people’s behaviour – through a mixture of education and enforcement.

We micro-chipped dogs to make it easier to return them to owners. We had neutering programmes to cut down on the canine population.

Council officers and their colleagues from the Trust organised roadshows in community centres and schools. They cajoled, persuaded and convinced.

Finally we got there and I think the vast majority of dog owners, certainly in this town, now have a far better understanding of their responsibilities towards their pets and their fellow residents.

The job is only halfdone, though. There may be fewer dogs on the streets, but the Trust’s kennels at Sadberge are full – and not just at Christmas, Whether due to misjudgement, carelessness or genuine hardship, people are still taking on commitments they can’t meet. The Trust and the RSPCA seem certain the figures will only get worse.

Then there is the shocking, appalling level of animal cruelty in our region which, as this newspaper reported this week, is up by more than 12 per cent.

As a policeman, I saw enough of the darker side of human nature to last me a lifetime.

You might think that nothing would shock me, but I still can’t get my head round the abuse of an animal. Nor do I buy for a moment the excuses about hardship or ignorance being the root cause of neglect.

Abuse is perpetrated by violent and feckless people who would behave in the same way no matter how much money they had.

The way they mistreat animals is a snapshot of how they feel about society.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks back, the hard times we’re experiencing are changing everyone’s attitudes. The easy-come, easy-go days are over. The throwaway society is becoming a thing of the past.

A lot of people treated their animals like that, acquiring them almost absent-mindedly and discarding them when they became an expense or a nuisance.

I don’t own a dog or any other animal because I know my job and lifestyle make it impossible.

I am no expert, but I know that a dog isn’t a toy, a status symbol or a fashion accessory.

It is an animal, part of creation, just like us, and accordingly deserves respect and proper treatment. Perhaps instilling that sense of respect among people who have so little for themselves and society, let alone animals, is the next big challenge for us all. It may be the hardest one we face, but it’s one we can’t shirk if we want to end the cruelty that shames our society.