Glouster Shire Council animal management – shot animals as the tipThe Glouster Shire Council story has hit the major media, running on the Herald Sun website. And it has everyone asking – how could this happen? Surely those in animal management in Australia – a first world country who loves its pets – would be treating our animals with compassion and care. Surely when our pets get lost, the people paid to take care of them for a time, would be treating them at least kindly until we can be reunited?
Unfortunately, too often this is simply not the case. In fact, for the majority of these pets, the first time they will have ever seen neglect and abuse – and certainly the first time their lives have been in serious danger – is when they enter our pound system.
Glouster Shire Council may have been driving live pets to the rubbish tip then shooting them, but they are certainly not alone in treating our pets badly. Across the country we see pounds killing pets immediately on intake, not giving owners a chance to claim them, and killing the wrong pet. Pounds killing pets before their holding period is up. Pounds using gas chambers to kill pets. Pounds seizing senior pets who have never caused a problem in their community. Pounds killing nearly all the pets they take in. Pounds killing many more pets than they rehome. Pounds failing to reunite pets and owners. Pounds offering no rehoming program whatsoever. Pounds killing pets in traumatic manner. Pounds shooting and stabbing pets to death. Overcrowded pounds taking on even more council tenders. Pounds blaming the community for their lack of performance. Pounds killing pets for common and treatable health problems, even when rescue groups are willing to take them. Pounds killing and keeping it secret from their community.
And while all this is happening, those who should be speaking out loudest for the pets – demanding that each of them are given the maximum chance of surviving the process of being impounded – are not only silent, but continue to excuse all of this away blaming ‘overpopulation’.
Nothing will ever change for pound pets, until the pounds change.
My only surprise, sadly, is that this is getting major media attention. Victorian pounds shoot animals regularly. Nothing in the over-regulated animal welfare legislation or code says they can’t.
At least councils are now required to set out how they kill the dogs in their domestic animal management plan but how do you stop animals being ‘off the books’ so that litter of puppies brought in and quickly killed is not recorded anywhere.
Change of attitude, change of staff; unscheduled pound inspections must happen. Killing of a pound animal by any means other than a vet injection must be treated as cruelty to animals with prosecution following.