DOG owners are treating their pets as status symbols and then abandoning them in record numbers.

Figures released by Battersea Dogs & Cats Home show Greenwich alcohol rehabs residents to be the worst in London at abandoning or losing their dogs, with 276 Greenwich dogs being handed over to the home last year – almost double the London average of 140.

The Plumstead and Woolwich area alone was responsible for 136 strays, making it the second worst offending area inside the M25, after Romford in Essex.