Mike (eating a pig’s ear)
Mike* was found wandering lost by a man walking his dog.
The man’s dog unfortunately started a fight with Mike. The man was able to separate the dogs, and took Mike to the Wodonga City Pound.
Mike was in a bad way. He had what appeared to be semi-healed burns across his head. He was emaciated and fearful. And probably more than a little traumatised by his time on the street.
A bull-breed rescue group saw Mike on the Council’s lost and found page, and felt a pound was a terrible place for him to heal and recover. They contacted the pound to try and secure his release. The pound refused.
Despite never having seen a vet or behaviourist for assessment, the pound staff determined he was ‘aggressive’ and refused to allow him to be rescued.
The rescue group begged. They had been able to secure a place at a nearby refuge who was willing to have him seen by a vet, get him healthy, then provide a professional appraisal of his prospects. They would be willing to cover any costs to secure his release, and arrange suitable transport.
The pound refused. And then they killed Mike.
It could be argued that killing an animal because a pound has ‘too many’ pets is acceptable practice.
It could be argued that pounds are ‘too busy’ to rehabilitate pets, and are left with little choice but to kill them.
But how can it be acceptable for a pound to choose to kill a pet, when a rescue is begging to be allowed to save them and treat them at their own cost?
How have we let our taxpayer funded service, designed to protect pets, become a willing killer of them?
Mike managed to escape whatever life he was living before he ended up at the pound. But he found no protection there. He died not at the hands of his abusers, but in our animal management system.
Maybe Mike was irremediably suffering, and unrehomable. Maybe he wasn’t. We will never know, because he wasn’t given a chance to heal from his wounds, and be professionally assessed. He was never given the second chance he deserved.
RIP Mike.
*This dog was unidentified, so we will never know his real name. I think Mike suits him.
OMG…. the so called British Bulldog a they had him listed as, jut shows are aware they are of their breeds and behaviours. I am horrified they did this to ‘Mike’. Normally Wodonga Dog Rescue manage to save most of the dogs in the Pound. How dare they assume a dog’s behaviour especially as he was supposedly defending himself from the other dog’s attack. Has the other dog been classed as dangerous as he attacked Mike. I am so close to giving up on everything. Everyday more sadness at the hands of the cruel and unjust humanity of humans….
Run free Mike I am so sorry the Pound would not give you a chance sweet boy. How could anyone not assess you with the injuries and ‘fear’ receiving those would have caused. I am so so sorry Mike.
wendy
we assessed him and we did not consider him rehomable. i have been put in hospital by a dog that i refused to be told it was a dangerous dog.
it was not a on the spur decision, we have stressed over him all week . none of these people have seen the dog and they had no idea what he was like. the fact that he had scars on his face, everyone wanted to save him. what about all the other dogs that dont get saved that DONT have issues. We have a responsibilty to the community and a dog like that is a risk to society and who is going to ware the responsibilty it he attacked another dog and killed it. Its all very well for everyone to jump up and down but they didnt see the dog and they didnt see his behaviour.
but he deserved the right at a chance you had no evidence , he by the sounds of it was suffering b4 he got to the pound and probably just needed the chance to trust again , he could have gone to responsible experienced people for this at no cost to you and at their risk and because u made one mistake and sufffered for it u condem all dogs like mike , why dont u go round em all uo and shoot them now …poor judgment from u i think
Yeah Peta…sure you assessed him very well. What a great human being you are! And to think that you work on the field of animal welfare !!!
Did you actually look at that dog? When I say “look at”…I mean attentively. Did you noticed how emaciated, covered in scars & burns and scared he was? Could you possibly expect from a dog that obviously only knew cruelty, misery and a very heavy hand his entire life, to pass with flying colors a temperament test in a pound environment? Seriously? Apparently your misguided idea of severe abuse sits only on the physical side. However, have you ever bother to learn how to recognize the signs of a psychological one? And still dare to mention that “you haven’t seen him, you don’t know what he was like…” So why didn’t you make a video of your so called “assessment”? Your approach is so judgmental and self righteous that you still added “the fact that he had scars on his face, everyone wanted to save him”. Really? Do you really believe that rescue groups only want to save dogs with scars on their faces?
If that was the case, they will have to save 98% of dogs in pounds. Did it ever occur to you that perhaps they saw something in him you obviously missed out? Have you ever heard of compassion and second chances? Surely not.
And for the record Peta, this is what you should have done regarding this dog: http://bawp.org.au/rescue-cc-178/
And please don’t dare suggesting that those involved in giving this dog a second chance are not community oriented or good citizens.
Aggression is not bred Peta. Aggression is taught.
This dog has obviously been ill treated. The man who handed him, said his dog attacked “Mike”. Was anything done about that dog ??? You don’t deserve to work in Animal Welfare when you are not willing to give a second chance. Look at the fighting dogs that were rescued from that scumbag Michael Vick in America. All were classed a vicious fighting Pit Bull type dogs. All that were rescued were rehabilitated and now live in loving family environments with children and other dogs. The rescue group should have been able to take him and work with him.
I am disgusted by your actions,this poor boy had nothing but misery for all his life and deserved a second chance,not fair at all,to me you are no better then the grubs that had that poor boy in the first place,absolutely disgusting,you all must be very proud of yourself NOT.
Don’t give up on everything1 I know what you mean though… but the more we look, the more we see, and the more it breaks our hearts….. look again at how many people now are fighting for the rights and welfare of animals, with the help of “social meadia” petitions, donations, for all animals. I believe we can beat animal cruelty.
I am so sick to death of people in animal management who havnt got a clue. Just because the job market is tight and someone gets a job in the area doesn’t make them an animal lover and certainly not qualified to make decisions like this. The totally inept breed description alone is beyond ridiculous .
Im sick to death of innocent animals with options being decreed dangerous without grounds. The legislation has been taken completely out of context and abused by council workers .
To say the person who signed this innocent creatures death warrant – or most probably just decided, is an unqualified arsehole after being given specialised options for the animal – is an understatement.
I think they are scared of being challenged in the courtroom now so go ahead and destroy them thinking the issue might go away.
There are so many councils in this country that need auditing and bring to account for their actions WITH OUR MONEY.
I find it very hard to understand these people are employed BY US to manage as we want them to – not run amok as they see fit. Local Government – and Commonwealth alike – it OUR money and they are public servants.
Thank you. We called him Buzz. He may not have known it, but we fought to keep him alive. He was killed by the Ranger despite the begging, despite the new life that awaited him & despite never being given a damn chance at life. But as he was being killed, he was cared about, he was loved & now we are mourning him.
You didn’t die anonymously Buzz & I am crying for losing you.
You were valued.
Thankyou for trying to save that poor baby,it’s just so sad,here where I live the RSPCA has now been changed back to the council pound,and I have heard that most animals that where there where destroyed,but unlike the ranger in your story our ranger here managed to save a precious few by herself,and has since found loving homes for them,what a shame this ranger did not show the compassion and empathy that our ranger has.
that is so disturbing – I feel so sad for everyone involved – what can we do? how can we get this into wider media? how do we hold the pounds responsible for senselessly killing this babies – so heartbreaking
Horrified. This must end. Poor dog. Failed by people every single step of the way.
This is how it has become, though the growing apathy of the general public who just don’t care unless it hits them personally we rescues have to watch in horror as the numbers of killings steadily climb.
It’s our of control and has been for ages, we report them and share them and morn for them but then we move on, we may never forget them but why can’t we stop them.
I wish all rescue groups would unit under a single banner, regardless of which species they care for and force the government to accept us as an authority to regulate our own breeds and breeders, who better than those who put so much effort into keeping them alive and finding suitable loving homes for them.
If this treatment is not halted more lives will be lost and we all know that.
Can’t someone start up a central database to which all rescues can lodge, not only would this benefit saving lives as we could see what rescues are where and make quick contact when animals in their area are at risk, but it would also make communication for transport, support and general running and management of rescue so much easier.
I know there is an awesome network out here and I know it’s capable of doing this we are not children to be told what to do or have other make life and death decision on the animals we give our life’s blood for.
We all manage our own rescue, foster programs, transport etc, could it be so much harder to centralize it, say on Face book, most of us are out here anyway, keeping tab and in touch with each other.
Action needs to be taken and in such large numbers that the authorities can’t ignore us anymore.
I agree too many animal welfare groups doing the same thing. If they combined their efforts took one project at a time so much would be achieved. Too much cruelty world wide animals suffer at the hands of humans.
A simultaneous rally in every capital city would make politicians take notice, animals can’t vote but their owners can.
Buzz, I initially came across you by accident however you have opened my eyes to a wider world of cruelty. I always fought for the pounds as I knew it would a horrible job for anyone to have to do. But for people to be so disconnected from their own emotions to just make these rash judgement is just ludicrous ! We don’t know who you were and we never will, but I know that you were loved by everyone involved in trying to save you. Thank you to everyone who offered help to us in Buzz’s aid. Thank you to Angii in helping us connect with the right people. Thank you to the no kill shelter willing to take you in and do EVERYTHING to make you better before judging you or assessing your ‘temperament’ . I think people who work in these jobs should have ‘temperament’ tests when they are VERY ILL and see what fate they would come to!
I loved you and I cry for you.
Thank you for opening my eyes Buzzy boy
I am SO angry . How DARE councils use tax payers money to kill animals-
-those who they are supposed to “shelter –”
this is totally against what Australia wants in this century.
Notice to Wodonga Pound, Rescue Group means there are people willing to take the risk that Mike was a dog that could/couldnt be housed. Why did you hinder them in their work, non paid work i may add. We, the people, donate our money, not yours, to get the rescuers to rescue dogs like Mike. What part of that sentence do you not understand. IMO there should be a behaviourist for the pound staff personnel.
This is absolutely disgusting of them to do this and also refuse to let him go to a rescue etc!!! Especially because he wasn’t even assesed by a professional to determine if he was agressive or not! !! They by rights should’ve let the rescue take him to be asses and live a happy life. Makes me sick and I’ll definitely be spreading the word about this disgusting behavior to everyone. .RIP BEAUTIFUL BOY .
Who are we to pass judgement on a beautiful creature, abused and neglected – no one to show them the kindness and love that all creatures are entitled to.
Shame on us!! The laws need to be reviewed, animal management needs an urgent upgrade – humans need to find compassion and empathy before we start turning on each other.
R.I.P. beautiful soul
there was a little 6mth old pup in albury pound that got put down today because it “ran out of time” where was everyone?????????????????
SHAME ON YOU Peta, to let it happen if you knew about him/her! Where were you?!
Council rangers are not qualified to assess a dangerous dog, a qualified animal behaviourist is the only person who can determine if a dog is dangerous.
Pounds are overcrowded it’s easier to euthanize an animal to make room for others. Until people take more responsibility this type of treatment will continue.
If the pound is a council pound then the community must take a stand, contact their councillors and demand they take appropriate action to allow animal welfare groups to assist with rehoming abandoned animals.
Pounds should have no kill policies. If GAWS can do it in Geelong, I’m sure the rest can to. Get your act together this is disgusting.
Unfortunately GAWS arnt no kills. They claim they are for cats but I volunteered there and know it’s not true at least yet. They are working more with rescues but they are not no kill yet. I should know, I adopted a pet and fostered twice, the fosters and one I adopted were lucky as I was told and found they did kill all the ones they came in around the same time as.