Steve Coleman (Image: Blue Mountains Gazette)
More than 150 local residents attended a meeting to protest the RSPCA NSW’s decision to sell off its local animal shelter and stop providing services to council. City residents claim they have ‘moral’ ownership of the property after fundraising for years to buy and build the facility, and that should the RSPCA desire to leave that it should hand over ownership back to the local community. The RSPCA has already sold off a retail space belonging to the branch, with another now on the market for $680,000.
CEO of RSPCA NSW Steve Coleman defended the decision, saying that the community didn’t need a physical shelter when pets could be simply fostered by volunteers. However pound services will still be required, so the City will need to look at providing their own facilities, or ship pets to another city.
The recent trend of the RSPCA NSW closing regional shelters one by one threatens the lives of pets. Not because their shelters are life affirming (they’re not), but simply as the largest animal welfare fundraiser in the state (the RSPCA NSW are currently sitting on $89 million dollars in assets) they’re sucking resources out of regional areas while leaving those same areas without vital services.
(Image: The Daily Telegraph)
Six puppies were dumped on the side of the road in Leichhardt (NSW) and ended up in the care of no kill organisation, The Sydney Dogs and Cats Home. Thanks to a clever media campaign, all six found homes.
Four pups were dumped at the side of the road in Yarranbella (NSW). Thanks to a clever social media campaign by Nambucca Valley Dog Rescue, all four were adopted before they could even land at the pound.
If your local pound is still killing pups because overpopulation, the real reason is absolute laziness. Puppies are like the proverbial hotcakes and there is no need for a single one to be killed in a pound.
The RSPCA Victoria have announced that they have appointed Dr Liz Walker as the new Chief Executive Officer. She was previously CEO of Victoria’s Lort Smith Animal Hospital, which boasts a live release rate of over 90%, despite being a resource for many behavioural and medically challenged animals, meaning this could be excellent news for the pets of Victoria.
A Melbourne cat adopted from the RSPCA less than a month ago, has saved her new owners house from fire. Tilly alerted her owner to smoke leaking from a roof vent.
An ACT police officer who capsicum sprayed a tethered dog, then danced around barking and throwing sticks at him, has been removed from frontline duties after the owner caught the abuse on CCTV. The owner wasn’t at home at the time. The AFP will investigate themselves, ho hum.
If your dog gets impounded by Darwin Council, you have four days to pick it up before it gets killed. A new (ironically named) ‘Value Improvement Program’ designed to improve ‘efficiency’ at the council have reduced the average holding period from 10 days to 3.9 days. Changes are expected to save between $30,000 and $40,000 annually.
Council assured the media they’re simply ‘getting pets home faster’, however figures showed almost a quarter of dogs were killed last financial year. Minus reclaims (unspecified) we’re looking at a pound that kills one in every two or three dogs it touches.
Meanwhile, Darwin Council demonstrated their commitment to valuing companion animals, by refusing access to rescuers to the body of much loved dog ‘Boy’ (shot by a Council officer), and instead dumping him at the local tip.
Tweed Shire Council (NSW), Kings Street Veterinary Clinic and some trap happy residents have worked together to deal with rabbits loose in town. Residents were loaned traps and the vet killed the 27 animals on behalf of council. The cause of the killing is being blamed on ‘irresponsible rabbit owners’. Yes really.
The RSPCA QLD is joining forces with dog training organisation the Delta Society to open dog behavioural schools across the state of Queensland. Classes aim to teach basic dog ownership skills using positive reenforcement.
Tyson & handler (Image: BBC News)
In the UK, a trained, rescued police dog is put to sleep after being found to be a banned breed. Tyson was saved by the local RSPCA, trained and even featured on television show ‘The Dog Rescuers’, however despite all this he was killed for how he looked.
‘Anonymous’ quote of the year ~ “We will take all animals in. Some will be quickly escorted to the garbage can pending their age, level of fear, and how the person in charge is doing hormonally that day. We will ask people for a $75 surrender fee but will pretend we don’t in our annual report!”
And finally, blog highlight of the month – Yes Biscuit’s ‘The Myth of Unadoptable Shelter Animals’
Shelter directors encounter a wide array of pets and temperaments – from adorable toy breed dogs to large, strong dogs who don’t play well with others to cats too scared to interact with humans in a shelter environment. Some pets will appeal to a large swath of the public, others to a narrower market. It is the shelter director’s job to find that someone.
Let’s make this real. We need a not for profit animal welfare organisation – not one that masquerades as one while it bleeds the public dry!