This story has been developing over a few months, but I have this week received the results of a FOI request to the Cairns Council.
Total intakes by month 2011/12
| Intakes | No | % |
| Cat intakes | 358 | 18% |
| Dog intakes | 1,447 | 74% |
| Owner surrenders (no breakdown) |
152 | 8% |
| Total | 1,957 | 100% |
Outcomes 2011/12
| Outcomes (no breakdown) |
No | % |
| Return to owner | 958 | 49% |
| Transfer to rescue (YAPS/RSPCA/Other) |
174 | 9% |
| Other | 77 | 4% |
| Killed | 748 | 38% |
| Total | 1,957 | 100% |
These statistics show us;
– this pound took in less than 2,000 animals over the year
– and around half went home
– 999 unclaimed pets were left remaining
– 748 of those unclaimed pets, ended up dead
With just 1,000 pets to place a year, you must be really TRYING to kill pets, if you can maintain a 40% kill rate in those conditions.
But don’t let this Council’s ineptitude surprise you, when they can astound you.
The measly 174 transfers to rescue from the 2011/12 year were such a strain on staff, that they sent this message to rescue groups in February;
This communication is being forwarded to all organisations that Council currently works with to rehome suitable impounded and surrendered animals.
Council is putting in place a new procedure to ensure the even distribution of rehomed animals amongst organisations. Council will contact your organisation by telephone or email on a rotational basis when a suitable animal becomes available. You are under no obligation to accept the animal Council offers, however if you wish to rehome it, you must be able to accept the animal within two (2) days of Council contacting you (or if you are contacted on a Friday, by the following Monday).
The animal you agree to rehome will be delivered to you by the Animal Management team at your nominated address for the organisation.
The decision has been made for Council to deliver animals to be rehomed directly to all organisations, rather than the current system where some organisations attend the pound to collect animals and other organisations have animals delivered to them by Council.
To ensure the accurate monitoring of these rehoming arrangements, Compliance Officers will no longer take phone or email enquiries in relation to requests to rehome particular animals. All such requests to the Animal Management Unit must be by email to animal_management@cairns.
qld.gov.au. We would appreciate it if you could advise your staff not to contact our Compliance Officers directly by telephone or email in future, but to email any enquiries about particular animals that appear on Council’s impounded animals website, to the above email address.
Council looks forward to continuing our relationship with your organisation. If you have any queries, please email the Animal Management Unit.
Kind regards
Kylee Miller | Coordinator Local Laws Compliance Unit
Local Law | Environmental Assessment
Planning & Environment | Cairns Regional Council
Rather than celebrate the rescue groups giving their time, resources and expertise to save the community’s pets (with the pound offering nothing in the way of a rehoming program themselves), Council have created a set of restrictive policies designed to keep rescue groups out of the pound, and out of their hair.
In execution, it has lead to Council dumping pets on rescues at a moment’s notice and many, many less pets being able to be seen and saved.
It will be another 12 months before the results of this effort to hamstring a barely functioning rescue program can be seen, but I’m sure you’ll join me in a slow handclap for Cairns and their kill-happy management.
Remember, no one wants to kill pets.
Unbelevable, so this Council thinks that killing animals is much better for them than making a concerted effort to rehome them and work with other rescue orgs. You get the feeling they just couldn’t be bothered.
Cairns Regional Council. Making it near impossible to save animals from their death trap of a pound. They claim they are getting better when their statistics state they are getting worse and worse. This is clearly demonstrated via previous emails detailing statistics of killing by former deputy Mayor, Margaret Cochrane.
Bob Manning, current mayor of Cairns, promised to work to improve the facility and look into animal welfare as a pre-election promise. This is clearly visible on the Cairns.com.au website in their pre-election chat editorial.
If you’re sick of their ridiculous killing mentality, then send an email to their councillors.
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Rather than rescue groups using their own time, petrol and transport to come and pick up pets they have chosen as suitable for their organisation to rehome (and see what else is in the pound that they might be able to help), rangers will choose a pet at random, contact a rescue group on a rotational basis when they decide that said pet is a good match with said rescue group and then drive that pet to the group. Yeah, I can see how that would be so much more efficient than the current system …
Disgusting and reprehensible behaviour, sack them all and get a proactive group of people to run the council like it isnt in the dark ages, Get up with the times people, this is not acceptable and should not be tolerated