October 7, 2009Comments are closed.resistance
Just when you think ‘jeepers, they churn animals quick’ – pounds find a way to churn them even faster…
Lake Macquarie’s new policy on feral animals
Feral and infant companion animals that council rangers pick up in Lake Macquarie will be euthanised quicker, under a new policy aimed at saving money and reducing stress on animals.
Lake Macquarie City Council approved last night an agreement with the RSPCA, under the Companion Animals Act, to euthanise animals within seven days at the RSPCA’s Rutherford pound.
A council report said this would improve animal welfare and reduce the stress animals experience in the pound.
An agreement between the council and the RSPCA, which expired in June, allowed feral and infant animals to be kept for a minimum of seven days before they were euthanised.
Holding the animals for seven days was an “extra burden” on the pound and an “unnecessary additional cost to council”, the report said.
The council kept the report’s financial details confidential.
The RSPCA must consider several factors when determining whether a companion animal is feral or infant.
These include: capacity of staff to safely handle and store the animal; staff occupational health and safety; the prospect of rehousing the animal; the age of the animal; whether the animal has been microchipped; the animal’s condition and its ability to eat without assistance; the likelihood of survival.
Lets take a look at that again:
The RSPCA must consider several factors when determining whether a companion animal is feral or infant.
So when determining whether an animal is ‘feral’ or ‘infant’ (and therefore able to be killed immediately under these new ‘no harm, no foul’ rules) they will be considering a whole host of factors which have nothing to do with the animal actually being feral, or an infant.
Whether, they have room in the shelter. Whether the animal is chipped (unlikely, I’d suspect given they’ve not gone home). Whether they are need special care. Whether they need TLC to get fatter, learn to eat or be well enough to be a candidate for rehoming…
Suddenly every single pet is able to be churned under this ‘kill-able’ interpretation.
We haven’t got room and you’re not chipped = feral. You’re small and need extra care = infant. You’re scared and suffering from a (treatable) illness = feral. You’re young and skinny = infant.
Did you see how they did that? It’s like a magic trick. Turning killing into ‘reducing stress on the animal’… you know humane, like.
This will be the new trend. Once the public starts to pressure for better performance, the result will be a blurring of statistics and a re-label of killing with a new, humane-friendly title.
Stay tuned.
“A council report said this would improve animal welfare and reduce the stress animals experience in the pound.”
The language is interesting; it’s hard to see that being dead is an improvement in the welfare of most animals. I’d think that killing an otherwise feedable/treatable/tameable/destressable/rehomable animal indicates a sudden decrease in its welfare rather than the converse.