Killing for convenience in Sydney

News today that NSW’s pounds killed 33,116 pets last financial year, up from 24,003 in 2006-07. That’s an increase of 9113 in a single year… Go Sydney!

But seriously, what the hell is going on?

Studies have shown time and time again that access to subsidised high-volume desexing programs increase people’s compliance in having their pets desexed and reduces the number of unwanted pets.

But the idea of ‘helping’ the community is overlooked in favour of mandatory desexing laws with fines and the push to have unregistered and undesexed dogs and cats seized and promptly killed.

Volunteer foster care programs allow shelters to move animals off-site for the purpose of rehabilitation and to increase shelter capacity.

However often volunteers are considered ‘more effort than they’re worth’ and killing the pets is far and away the easier option.

Around the country half a million dogs are being purchased from pet shops and even more are sold through newspapers, internet sites, and breeders.

So there ARE homes available – its just no one is giving priority to finding and attracting them.

Showcasing adoptable animals off-site = an increase in adoptions.

But instead the public are expected to bring their families to concrete kennels out of town that smell like shit and piss, then choose a ‘family pet’ while the dogs pogo up and down attack each other through wire cages, and the decibels levels reach that of ‘ear bleed’ and the kids begin to ask, what happens to the ones that don’t get adopted?

A well publicised, customer focussed ‘pet matching’ program in a welcoming environment sees the community open their hearts to rescue pets and fall over themselves in a rush to ‘save a life’.

Instead frustrated and overworked staff work with substandard infrastructure, thanks to the poverty-level funding so common to pounds. But with those in the industry so keen to repeat mantra’s about ‘the public being to blame’ and there being ‘no other way’ that there’s zero drive for towards improvement.

Why are we still accepting council resources being used for little more than a community funded dog and cat killing machine?

This isn’t about pet overpopulation or irresponsible owners – this is about an acceptance that it’s ok for pounds to kill rather than rehome the majority of pets they take in, with no accountability except for the occasional critical media piece.

And it truly is a slaughter.