Back in November, two little pups were collected by a good samaritan and delivered to the pound provider in Broken Hill, The Broken Hill Veterinary Clinic (NSW). Tammy and Patchy were well cared for, and in good health. They were just five months old and belonged to a 6 year old girl.
The dogs weren’t chipped by their breeder/seller as is the state requirement, so while not able to be immediately identified, their family were looking for them. They made contact with council as soon as the offices opened, arriving at the vet the next day to collect their animals.
Should have been a pretty straight forward scenario, yes? People who love their pets and want them back, and whose pets have never caused an issue in the community, are returned their animals and happily ever after.
But things are often not that simple in Australian pounds.
In order for the dogs to be released, there was a mandate that they be registered and microchipped.
As the dogs were only five months old (the requirement is six months) and the family was planning a move to South Australia the following month, the local council agreed to waive the registration fees (around $350).
Leaving just microchipping – $35 per dog. The family agree they could pay that amount.
However, when they approached the vet holding their pets, he required that they pay $65 each for the overnight care of the dogs.
You read that right – $65!… each!
The family was understandably distraught, but with money being tight and a big family move on the cards, they couldn’t afford the $200 they would need ($35 for chipping x 2 dogs + $65 x 2 dogs) to spring their pets. They left the vets and again pleaded with local council – was there anything could be done to help them get their pets back? The council said it did not have any authority over the fees the vet was charging. They tried the local police, without success.
They even tried the local media, but the vet stood firm, saying if the dogs had been microchipped, they wouldn’t have stayed overnight and you know, problem solved.
The dogs continued to be held to ransom. No cash. No dogs.
………
People who can’t afford to reclaim pets, and who aren’t given options other than to surrender, are an unnecessary load on an already overloaded pound system. These dogs weren’t unwanted, they weren’t abandoned, or ‘throw aways’, or any of the other derogatory terms thrown at the supposition we create of an uncaring owner discarding their pets. These were the loved pets, of a family doing it tough.
Just pretending for one moment, that the pound system is supposedly designed to reunite pet and owner, AND not kill pets unnecessarily… how does this system support those aims?
Sure, you could argue the owners were ‘irresponsible’ for having dogs enter the pound system – and they should have known the laws regarding microchipping… but how does putting these dogs’ lives at risk at the pound, actually help the dogs?
………
The owners never did come up with the $200 they needed to save their pets.
It is unknown what happened to Tammy and Patchy. I hope being young, small breeds, that they were pushed from the vet into the rescue system and found a new family. I certainly hope they weren’t killed because… overpopulation.
While pounds continuously clutch pearls about ‘too many’ dogs becoming homeless, they simultaneously run a system which makes it practically impossible for those with limited resources to collect their loved, family pets. Our pets deserve better.
This kind of raw stupidity and greed sickens me, our tv’s are flooded each year around christmas time with warnings about pets for presents perhaps not being a great idea as the novelty may wear off and lead too abandonment, highlighting how overrun pounds are with strays etc. And here we have a loving family with a sweet young girl begging for there (well cared for) dogs back, and they are met with a heartless scumbag. How a vet who’s supposed to care so much for animals can forsake them to the pound and in all likelyhood the end of a needle, blows my mind. That money hungry lowlife should take a long hard look in the mirror.
I hope Tammy and Patchy are ok, same goes for there six year old friend.
I had an experience with ‘my’ vet who I’d been loyal to for 3 years that was very similar. I had a very sick kitten they did numerous tests on and found nothing. I couldn’t come up with the $400 vet bill until the end of the week, but the vet urged me to take her home on the Tuesday. I asked the vet nurses and they refused. The vet rang me again and said she was distressed and needed to get out of there. I tried the front staff again, promising to pay my bill on Thursday. No go. The coldhearted woman repeated the clinic’s payment policy. Thursday came, and now the bill was over $400, I was away, and I sent my father in to get her. They refused to release her, saying she was ‘too aggressive’, and only I could pick her up. Furious, I collected her first thing Friday morning, and she was emaciated and distressed. She died a week later. I had to syringe feed her, but it was too late. That week in the vet clinic, on top of her mystery illness, killed her. I gave them a serve, but only the female partner responded to me with an apology. Ironically, she had never been involved in the treatment of my kitten.