The Lost Dogs Home have three requests of their public; they should value their pets, be more responsible and donate to “give abandoned and unwanted dogs a second chance in life”.
In Australia the great news is, animal welfare groups advocating for companion animal care, plus changes in family demographics and wealth has seen huge success in all of these.
People do value their pets
Dogs and cats have never lived a more privileged life; in fact we love them so much…
… that households now spend more on them than on child care. That’s $700 for every man, woman and child every year – 50% more than five years ago. ref
In 1994 only 61% of dogs had been desexed. By 2006 this had risen to 78%. The number of desexed cats had also risen slightly, from 91% in 1994 to 93% in 2006.
and
95% of owners provide their pets with preventative heath care such as worming or flea treatments. Only 3% of owners surveyed have never taken their dog or cat to a vet.
and
98% of pet owners rarely or never receive complaints about their pets.
and
79% of owners have never had their pet go missing long enough to cause concern.
Less than 5% of dogs and cats ever need the services of a pound or shelter.
So much success! Modern Australians are pet lovers who value their pets, are overwhelmingly responsible with desexing, vet care and pet confinement and will collect their pet from the shelter should they go missing, because they’re family.
With our small population, urbanisation and high incomes, it should have been a recipe for the lowest pet euthanasia rates in the world.
So what happened?
While the animal owning public was doing everything asked of it – becoming more compassionate, more responsible and donating to The Lost Dogs Home to save the lives of pets less fortunate than their own, The Lost Dogs Home like many shelters across the country… failed to improve themselves.
In 1999 The Lost Dogs Home rehomed 1,765 dogs and 566 cats.
In 2008 The Lost Dogs Home rehomed 1,581 dogs and 592 cats.
In nearly a decade, they’ve made absolutely no progress in their end of this bargain; to “give abandoned and unwanted dogs a second chance in life”.
The blame game
Yesterday The Lost Dogs Home Managing Director, Graeme Smith hit back at criticism of its high kill rates.
Pet shelter heightens security after threats
The Lost Dogs Home has beefed up security after threats by animal rights zealots to storm the shelter.
Managing Director Graeme Smith said written threats posted on internet forum sites made him fear for both the home’s staff and animals.
The threats follow accusations of unnecessarily high death rates of stray cats and dogs at the North Melbourne pound.
“I have been forced to act to protect the safety of all life within our walls,†Dr. Smith said yesterday.
“First and foremost we are an animal pound, second to being an animal shelter, and we have a statutory obligation under our council contracts to protect and unite, when possible, lost and stray animals that come into our care.
“For that reason we are using money raised as income through our pound contracts to meet the increased security, and not donated dollars to meet these new costs.”
Dr Smith, a veterinarian and head of the home for more than two decades, blamed “unbalanced” Sunday news reports for the controversy surrounding the shelter.
These stories fail to recognise the real work of the home, to educate pet owners, which has led to big increases in the numbers of humans being reunited with their pets through registration and microchipping.â€
Dr. Smith said the Lost Dogs’ Home, one of the biggest animal shelters in Australia, had lower euthanasia rates than either Sydney or Brisbane and aimed to continue to lower its kill rates by 2 percent a year.
Rather than listening to their supporters, they’ve continued the defensive, self-pitying stance they’re now becoming famous for. Seems they aren’t willing to recognise that it’s not the media who has painted them black, but their own figures on their own kill rates. Its not ‘animal rights zealots’ that they’re in conflict with, but responsible, loving pet owners who have been working to make Australian companion animals some of the most privileged in the world… and who have donated millions to save pets.
For Dr Smith to now defend his poor performance as a shelter director, with the worse performance of other shelter directors reveals the deep set mediocrity of this organisation.
And the bit that really insults pet lovers;
“I have been forced to act to protect the safety of all life within our wallsâ€
After decades of killing animals without repercussion, to now attempt to take the position of ‘animal protector’ without acknowledging that the greatest risk the pets of The Lost Dogs Home face, is from his own staff who are entrenched in killing, shows how little consideration Dr Smith has given to lifesaving alternatives.
While they’re pointing fingers at everyone else The Lost Dogs home is today still killing pets entrusted to their care, when it isn’t necessary. It is raising funds off rescuing dogs, only to kill them. This huge, wealthy organisation has lifesaving options that they’re choosing not to explore.
Throughout it all, one thing stays the same. Thousands of Lost Dogs Home animals are continuing to be ‘rescued’, but not survive the experience.
