Is RSPCA NSW’s ‘Drives for Lives’ killing pets?

Further community anger at the RSPCA NSW, this time for taking credit for placing pets in homes, whom it actually killed;

Mr Twining said the two dogs that he knew about, Reg and Max, had been put down in May.

“When the RSPCA (Nowra) published this on Facebook saying these dogs had found their forever homes they knew those two dogs were dead,” Mr Twining said.

“I’m upset that I’m in that photo, it’s quite offensive, I feel like I’m complicit in that lie.

“I am also concerned that it is still on their Facebook page.

“RSPCA NSW CEO Steve Coleman claims to have investigated the issue but the page is still there,” Mr Twining said.

The Register contacted Mr Coleman who confirmed that photo did appear on the RSPCA Facebook page but believed it had been taken down.

“I understand where he [Mr Twining] was coming from,” he said.

“He’s obviously annoyed we’ve misled people. Some days later one of those dogs had been euthanased. It was never the intent to mislead or misrepresent anything at the time when that photo and caption went up.

“We’re an organisation that isn’t perfect and is striving to do better, but the energy needs to be channelled into reducing the number of animals brought to us,” Mr Coleman said.

Certainly, it’s true – the less pets that are brought to the RSPCA NSW, the less they can kill. However that seems to be counter intuitive to the purpose of an animal ‘shelter’, which is – you know – protecting needy pets.

The dog who is confirmed dead is Reg, the Australian Bulldog, who was transferred from Nowra to Yagoona. The status of Maximus the Kelpie x is unknown.

The RSPCA NSW is currently giving big ups to its ‘Drives for Lives’ program – the same program which moved Reg to Yagoona;

The RSPCA’s Drives for Lives initiative aims to transport animals between 11 shelters, 2 Care Centres, 27 volunteer branches and 4 veterinary hospitals around the state. This is made possible with the help of dedicated custom-built transportation vehicles and a team of staff to help move animals around the state to increase the chances of rehoming them.

Sure, on the face of it, it does seem like a good idea. The RSPCA get a sponsored car or two (a Volkswagen in February and a Toyota in July) to move pets and supplies around the state. And in theory, animals get moved from country areas to the city to be adopted.

Unfortunately – as in the case of Reg – it doesn’t always have the ‘happily-every-after’ ending that we would all hope for.

Take the shire of the shire of Cooma. Now you might remember Cooma as the town punching well above its weight in managing a save rate of 90%+;

Cooma-Monaro Shire Council has achieved its highest rehousing rate of impounded stray dogs in five years.

During the 2009/2010 financial year 97 per cent of dogs impounded were successfully rehoused.

Of the 146 dogs seized 143 were released and three were euthanased, a six per cent improvement on 2005/2006 figures.

Of the 143 dogs released 20 were handed over the Cooma branch of the RSPCA.
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Last year, council seized a total of 17 cats and released 16 while one was destroyed.

However, despite their low kill rates and successful direct-from-pound adoptions, since May this year the RSPCA NSW has started sending buses to Cooma to collect pets , and bring them to Yagoona;

Cooma RSPCA cat co-ordinator Debbie Robinson is excited about the buses which will help find homes for the many abandoned animals being looked after by the Cooma RSPCA volunteers.

A bus visited Cooma recently to collect a cat and her kittens that were dumped at Mrs Robinson’s house and took them to Yagoona, the main RSPCA shelter in Sydney.

“They were vet checked at Yagoona and homes will be found for them,” Mrs Robinson said.

“One had to be put down because the vet found it had a hole in the heart.

“At least this way we know we will find homes for them.”

Cooma RSPCA dog co-ordinator Lil Frezza said the new service took a load off her shoulders.

“It is fantastic to have help to find homes for the many dogs I take in which often take a long time to place in Cooma.

So where are these pets off to? The RSPCA NSW Yagoona shelter is reported to be the “largest animal holding facility in the southern hemisphere” and has capacity for 900 dogs and 300 cats. They are reported to have a kill rate at the site of 60% for cats and 40% for dogs.

While it might seem warm and fuzzy to move a cat family to the city – a high kill shelter that constantly complains of ‘overpopulation’ has absolutely no business taking on pets from other communities.

So why would they? The answer is known to most in the retail industry – restocking.

This morning the facility has 22 cats for adoption on its ‘adoptapet’ website (only 2 of these have photos), and 33 dogs. By my calculations that leaves 867 kennels free for dogs, and 178 cages free for cats. Some of these kennels will be taken up with strays, obviously. But there are hundreds of kennels and cages still unaccounted for. Where are all the pets?

Steve Coleman maintains that when the org kills pets, it does so because of ‘behavioural issues’ – and that they simply could not be saved;

Which is hard to believe given the incredibly high kill rate they support. However, it is pretty hard to justify killing pets for common and treatable issues, if you have an empty shelter – so what to do?

Restock with adoptable pets from elsewhere.

Shipping in pets who are more ‘adoptable’, under the guise that they were in serious danger where they were, gives the Yagoona shelter a double win. The ability to artificially inflate their local figures, making it easy to cull other pets for being ‘unadoptable’ in the face of high intakes (and berate the public for their ‘irresponsibility’)… and a heart warming story about a pet who found a home after being transported – thanks to the RSPCA ‘Drives for Lives’ program (donate now!)

The RSPCA NSW generated $49 million dollars in the 2011/12 financial year ($28m revenue, $17m legacies and a $4m goverment grant). It also recorded a $10 million dollar surplus (mirroring the $10 million dollar surplus it generated in 2010/11).

They have an enormous amount of resources at their disposal for rehabilitation and treatment. To kill pets, while bringing in pets from elsewhere is simply unconscionable.

Once Yagoona has a No Kill policy and is saving 90% of intakes, then by all means, they can use a ‘Drive for Lives’ program to bring in as many pets as they can handle. But to move pets from a relatively safe location – where they are in the care of foster carers, or are able to be rehomed directly to the public – to a known high kill shelter is outrageous.

Make no mistake – the RSPCA have space – they have money. What they lack is a desire to save lives and a leadership who demands it.

No more excuses. It’s time to stop the killing.