London Dog Pound Is a Howl for Tourists

Along with the obligatory visits to Big Ben, the Tower of London and Madame Tussaud’s, London tourists are increasingly penciling in a stop at another, rather unlikely attraction--the local dog pound.

The Dogs’ Home Battersea, a 127-year-old animal shelter, is featured in a daily British Broadcasting Corp. documentary series. The half-hour program focuses on the fortunes of various animals brought to the shelter.

Actors Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Irons have adopted pets from the home, and Geri Halliwell, the former Spice Girl, took home a black Shih Tzu.

Last year, about 70,000 people from all corners of the globe visited the unassuming complex in South London, under the stacks of the old Battersea Power Plant. Most of them paid the admission (about 85 cents) just to wander amid the four floors of kennels and pet the dogs--which on any given day number about 600--or visit with the 100 or so cats in residence.

The Dogs’ Home Battersea claims it never euthanizes an adoptable animal. Only sick and vicious animals are put down, and then only after efforts to heal them or modify their behavior, officials say. Last year, the shelter found homes for 5,000 animals.