The RSPCA Peninsula (VIC) have lost the tender to the City of Casey’s pound services after a 15 year relationship;
RSPCA state chief executive officer Maria Mercurio confirmed its tender was unsuccessful.
“What we don’t know yet is why we lost it, nor do we have any idea when the new tender will take over, so at the moment we’re in a state of limbo,” Ms Mercurio said.
She said the centre would explore other avenues and had no short-term plans to make staff redundant.
“We have a strong commitment to the community and we certainly won’t be walking away,” Ms Mercurio said.
“It’s a shock to staff but we need to step back and reassess the future of the site.”
So with such a ‘commitment to the community’, how has the pound been performing? From the City of Casey Animal Management Plan 2008/11:
Unclaimed dogs – 672
Rehoused – 247
Killed – 425
Unclaimed cats – 636
Rehoused – 47
Killed – 589
Certainly, with Casey killing more dogs than they adopt, and saving a fraction of the cats impounded, the community won’t be missing much – while the pets might be better off if they were to go to an organisation with a greater life-saving commitment.
With the council remaining tight lipped on whom the valuable new pound tender will be allocated to, let’s all hope the City of Casey has made a compassionate decision.
See also: The City of Casey – a case study in cat management
