An animal lover whose two dogs were seized by Waltham Forest council said he has been left bewildered by the ‘heavy handed’ actions of the authority.

Laurence Kroble was taken by ‘complete surprise’ on June 26 when police and council officials turned up on his doorstep.

The 71-year-old of Falmouth Avenue in Highams Park was told a complaint had been made about one of his dogs allegedly biting a woman.

Officers from the council told him the incident had occurred 16 days previously, but, when Mr Kroble could not tell them which dog had been involved, they took both animals.

A two-year-old Bichon Frise called Lilly was seized, along with Chonzer puppy Tanni.

“They were talking about an incident 16 days ago. I couldn’t recall at all what they were talking about,” Mr Kroble said.

“They said I was being evasive, but I told them I had no idea what they were talking about.

"They turned up on my door step, all of them, first thing in the morning. Who do they think I am, Ronnie Kray?

“These aren’t dangerous dogs.”

A woman has alleged she was chased and bitten by one of the dogs, but Mr Kroble maintains he has no recollection of this incident ever taking place.

“If a woman had been bitten surely she would have screamed or yelped or at least said something.

“This whole thing is madness.

“I was racking my brains and I thought the older dog did run off as I was getting them into the car and barked at a woman who glared at me.”

Mr Kroble said he emailed the council to let them know about the incident, which he believes is the only possible day they could be referring to.

A meeting was set up at Waltham Forest council last week, but had been cancelled when Laurence arrived.

Yesterday, another meeting was held, during which the council told Mr Kroble they may take him to court and are having animal behaviour experts visit the dogs.

“My little mates have been taken away,” he said.

“I know they are going to take me to court, that’s what they want. Do they think dogs don’t have brains? That it’s ok to just dump them in a kennel when they are not even sure they did anything wrong?”

The council has been criticised by a number of dog owners in the past for taking dogs away from their owners, before taking both sides of a story.

A statement from the committee of WF4Dogs said: “The council needs to remember that dogs are a part of their owner's family.

“To have them seized, with minimal communication and for an indefinite period of time, is very stressful for the owners - in addition they will be worrying about kennelling costs, which are charged by the day.

“For the dogs, being suddenly removed from their family and put into stark, noisy kennels can be hugely traumatic.

“The dog enforcement team needs to communicate better with owners of dogs that have been seized, and they should work to get the dogs swiftly assessed and wherever possible returned to their waiting families.”

Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy leader and cabinet member for environment said: “The Council is currently investigating alleged offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act, and it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this time.”