It has come to my attention that this link is being used to promote a petition for mandatory desexing in QLD.
I just need to make it clear that mandatory desexing is an INCREDIBLY bad idea. If you’re trying to reduce the kill rate in a high-kill system, it makes no sense whatsoever to give extra powers to animal control to impound animals for transgressions of arbitrary laws. No organisation in the world who has achieved No Kill or low-kill goals supports this approach. AND enforcing mandatory desexing (door knocking, trapping) sucks potentially millions of dollars from programs which do reduce impounds (subsidised desexing programs and owner support).
In short PLEASE don’t sign the petition. And if you want to read up more on why mandatory desexing fails in its stated aims, please read my other piece of writing; ‘Why champions of mandatory desexing are either ignorant or deceitful’.
(Oh, and psst – Queensland has already tried mandatory desexing and it was repealed for being ineffective and impractical and because it didn’t fucking work).
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When you first find out about the huge number of animals being killed in our nation’s pounds and shelters, it is normal to feel overwhelmed. With Australia an enormously pet loving country, how can it be possible that thousands of them are being killed for being ‘unwanted’ each week?
– Australian’s spend more than $3.5 BILLION for dogs and $1.4 BILLION for cats on pet care products and services each year. And despite national and international economic pressures, this spend continues to grow every year.
– Australian pets are some of the most cherished in the world, with almost all pet owners saying they often talk to their pets and 91% of owners saying they feel ‘very close’ to their pets.
– Despite the common belief that shelters are filled with ‘abandoned’ animals, less than 10% of dogs intakes are owner surrender. While studies on large numbers of cat intakes have shown over 80% of them had never had owners and were likely the offspring of the ‘stray’ population.
– Being killed in a pound or shelter is the leading cause of death for companion animals in Australia. More cats and dogs die each year in the pound, than those that die as a result of accidents, disease and old age.
While pounds and shelters blame ‘the public’ for their predicament, across the nation, animals who have never seen abuse or mistreatment, enter pounds and shelters and are:
And while many pounds fail in their mandate to keep pets owned by the community safe, they often blame the community for the mistreatment and killing.
Pounds and shelters often focus on ‘overpopulation’ even though there are no figures or research to back up their claims. They often draft laws which sound helpful (mandatory desexing), that in execution actually drive up pound intakes (more sweeps on non-compliant pet owners who can’t afford to comply). Pets often get sicker (disease, behavioural deterioration) while in their care. They even victimise – removing the protections for and driving up kill rates of – certain segments of the pet population (‘pit bulls’ and fractious ‘feral’ cats).
– A NSW pound was found to be driving live dogs to the local rubbish tip and shooting them. This task was completed by a single ranger, suggesting that the dogs killed in this manner were agreeable and tame.
– A large Victorian pound, known for its large collection of pound tenders, chooses to take in pets from several dozen councils, then kill many of the pets for common and treatable illness, fixable behavioural issues and old age. At the same time it refused access to local rescue groups willing to save those same pets.
– A WA cat organisation lobbied publicly to be allowed to rescue a colony of cats, that had been being gradually tamed and rehoused by a local woman. Of the cats the organisation ‘saved’ 100% of them were killed for having ringworm.
– A NSW pound killed a labrador retriever as it caught kennel cough while in their facility (a dog version of the ‘flu’). This dog had a rescue with a local breed rescue group who was not contacted.
– A WA pound held a dog for 10 days while failing to notify the owner who had contacted them the day it went missing and left a description. It was only reunited when a local rescue group saw a photo and made the connection (this pound is known for shooting dogs).
– A South Australian pound made the national news when it was found to be gassing pets using a home-made carbon monoxide chamber filled with an old holden car motor.
– A QLD pound killed a purebred, desexed border collie pup who escaped from her owner after digging under a fence.
– A Victorian pound killed a jack russell dog who escaped during a storm. Her owners had phoned to claim her, but the pound was closed on Fridays. When they went to collect her on Monday she was already dead.
– A Victorian pound failed to reunite a golden retriever and his family after it was found his microchipping paperwork was in the owners, ex-partner’s name. When the ex-partner was notified and went to make the collection the next day, the dog was already dead.
– A QLD family’s new kitten escaped and was collected by a kindly neighbour. He was killed on arrival because the pound had ‘too many kittens’.
– A major Victorian cat shelter defended a 91% kill rate.
– A NSW metropolitan pound was criticised by their local community for killing cats and dogs using an inhumane and outdated method of killing, where animals are fatally injected in the heart.
– A QLD pound was found to be sending live animals to their local university of ‘non-revival’ (or fatal) surgery by vet students. The process was defended and continues to this day.
– A NSW pound was found to be killing 80% of cats and dogs entering its facility. It had no rehoming or rescue process to speak of, yet blamed the community for the killing.
– A regional WA council successfully lobbied to change its kill method from injection by a veterinarian, to animals being shot with a firearm. This was to ‘save money’.
– A metropolitan NSW council pound was found to only be releasing alive 1 in every 10 intakes. It blamed the community for the high level of killing, despite only taking in a couple of thousand pets a year.
– A Victorian council pound holding facility was found to be feeding pet dog sedative drugs, then leaving them to struggle, fit and die alone overnight. Any dogs who didn’t pass away, were killed the next morning.
Rather than keep pets safe, pound and shelters are often places of abuse, neglect and death. These pets are our pets and they deserve better.
The single most important thing you can do as an animal advocate is to take more of an interest in the way your local council deals with animal control. In each of the cases above, these pounds were surrounded by animal lovers who had no idea what was going on in their local facility.
The unfortunate truth is communities tend to get the animal control departments, they accept. And the truth about the details of the animal control of local councils can tend to be hidden behind layers of rhetoric, unproven belief and a status quo that accepts killing as a solution to animal management ‘issues’.
The community becoming more knowledgeable about their local council pound has the potential to save more lives than any other advocate action. If you’re a pet lover, but don’t know the ins and outs of your local council pound, then everything else you do in the name of saving the lives of pets is really just lip-service.
If healthy, treatable pets are being killed in your local council pound, then you need to ask – why?
Contrary to popular belief, most council pounds only handle a few hundred pets a year. In some of the larger pounds it may be a couple of thousand. How your local pound system operates is the biggest factor on the kill rate of your community.
So how do you find out what the situation is for pets? These are the top 10 questions to ask of your local council pound.
1. What happens to pets who are found lost?
Are they impounded at a council facility or privately run shelter? Do they stay in that location for the duration, including when offered for adoption? The further the pet is moved from its original location, the harder it is for people and pets to be reunited. In addition, if pets are returned straight home, disease transmission and the overall pound load is reduced.
Worst – they are shipped to a ‘mega pound’ facility in a ‘centralised’ location
Better – they are impounded at a local council pound or similar local facility
Best – they are scanned for a microchip in the field and returned straight home
2. What fees and charges do people have to pay to collect their lost pet
Bloated fees and charges keep people from being able to afford to collect their animal. If the animal is not known to roam regularly, and is otherwise healthy it should be a priority to get it home. Punishing people through their pets (especially if that pet is killed) makes little sense.
Worst – More than $100 (+ daily upkeep)
Better – Less than $100 (+ daily upkeep)
Best – Nothing if it is a ‘first offence’ and we offer a payment plan if needed.
3. What process do all impounded pets go through on arrival?
The pound should be thinking ‘lost’ not ‘unwanted’ and build their policies and procedures with reuniting pet and owner as the priority. They should also be looking to reduce disease outbreaks and keep their pound population healthy.
Worst – We impound them. We do not vaccinate intakes.
Better – Scan for chip, vaccinate and upload photo onto lost and found website.
Best – Scan for chip, vaccinate, photo uploaded to our lost and found website, local vets notified and managed volunteer ‘pet detective’ service coordinated.
4. What process do impounded cats go through on intake?
Cats are some of the most disadvantaged in the pound population. Not only do friendly cats act ‘fractious’, which is often mistaken for feral – 80% of intakes are human-tame, but have never had an owner. To this end, without policies and procedures which protect cats, killing becomes the primary tool for cat management. This is simply unacceptable in a compassionate society.
Worst – We kill feral cats on arrival, but hold the rest.
Better – We give all cats a chance to calm down for a few days before assessing them.
Best – We give all cats a chance to calm down for a few days before assessing them, then if they’re ‘feral’ we return them, desexed to their community.
5. What process do impounded dogs go through on intake?
Dogs who have lived with families, who suddenly find themselves in a pound situation suffer terribly from stress and anxiety. This can leave normally friendly dogs acting defensive and without proper management see the development of ‘kennel aggression’. It is important that the pound facility embraces modern and humane behaviour management techniques to maintain the emotional health of their charges.
Worst – Nothing. We simply hold them.
Better – We have a program for dogs which includes an assessment, environmental enrichment and exercise.
Best – We have a program for dogs which includes an assessment, environmental enrichment, exercise. We also work to socialise and train dogs in our facility.
6. How many dogs do you reunite with their owners?
Studies have shown most dogs have owners looking for them and when proactive redemption techniques are used, more than 80% of dogs go home. Techniques for reuniting pet and owner include; dropping pets straight home rather than impounding them, promoting registration and microchipping, offering after hours collection and posting photos of found pets online. Volunteer ‘pet detectives’ can also be used to create lost and found pet registers.
Worst – We reunite less than 40% of dogs with their owners
Better – We reunite between 40% – 60% of dogs with their owners
Best – We reunite 60% or more of dogs with their owners
7. How many dogs do you place with new families?
Comprehensive adoption programs are a vital function of animal management. Some pounds choose to kill rather than to proactively advertise their pets in the local media, on free social media website and on adoption websites like PetRescue. To choose to kill rather than work with local rescue groups to find pets new homes. Killing in the face of alternatives is unacceptable.
Worst – We have a limited adoption program and do not work with rescue
Better – We offer a comprehensive adoption program and have good working relationships with rescue to place pet in new families.
Best – We place all healthy, treatable pets into our adoption program, or place them into a local rescue group for rehoming.
8. How many dogs do you ‘euthanise’
Only a small fraction of the pound population is truly suffering, aggressive or untreatable. Pets who need extra care can be released to rescue groups, placed in foster care or given behavioural rehabilitation on site. However, the majority of pets will be able to be placed directly with new families at the end of their impound period.
Worst – We euthanise more than 30% of our dog intakes
Better – We euthanise between 20% – 10% of dog intakes
Best – We euthanise less than 10% of dog intakes
9. How many pets do you rehome undesexed? (excluding those placed with rescue groups)
All pets adopted from the pound should be desexed before rehoming, otherwise the pound becomes a proverbial supermarket for backyard breeders and puppy farmers. Releasing pets undesexed also sends a conflicting message to the public about the importance of desexing. Desexing pets before rehoming shouldn’t be allowed to cause a ‘bottleneck’ in processes however – killing pets who could otherwise be rehomed because of a limited number of desexing surgeries available is unacceptable.
Worst – some or any
Best – none
10. What desexing programs do you offer for cats?
Large scale studies of shelter cat populations have shown that 80% of intakes have never had owners. They are the semi-tame offspring of unowned cats. If councils choose not to offer large scale desexing programs for cats (regardless of their ownership status), then they are instead choosing to kill large numbers of cats. Desexing programs for all cats, helps ensure people who are caring for a stray take the step of having it desexed.
Worst – None; if you can’t afford desexing, you shouldn’t have a cat.
Better – We offer cat desexing for low income earners and seniors.
Best – We offer discount and free cat desexing for any person who has a cat who is unsterilised.
11. Do you run a volunteer/foster care program, and if so, how many participants are there?
It is easy to say you have a volunteer program, much harder to have a fully functioning program which saves lives. Volunteer programs should have a few dozen regular participants at least. Foster care programs are dependant on need and can have 1,000+ participants depending on the pound size.
12. Do you work with rescue groups. How many groups do you work with regularly?
If a pound has a fully formed adoption and foster care program, then they have the luxury of whether they work with rescue or not. However, if they are killing pets that need rehabilitation, very young pets, or to make space for new pets, then they should have an open door policy to rescue groups to help them save lives.
13. What percentage of council pet registrations are spent on improving pound facilities and services?
Worst – Not 100%
Best – 100%
Visit in person. Some councils, especially those who already have a proactive programs in place, will happily give this information out to you as a member of the public. Some might not know off hand, but will be happy to send you the details in writing. Leave your contact details and get any contact details of staff that you can.
Other councils will require you complete a ‘Freedom of Information’ request. This is fine and don’t be put off! There is generally a standard form/s that you will complete and the information will be sent to you.
Other, less proactive councils may work against giving you the finer details of how they operate. Some may simply refer you to a third party (like an RSPCA). Private organisations aren’t required to give you commercially sensitive information, but they should be able to give it directly to your local council, so simply refuse to be fobbed off.
As a final step, you can contact Council’s Management to make a complaint that the information isn’t forthcoming. From there you could take your concerns to the local media.
