“This was my little dog (Choppie) that had been picked up and taken to the Macksville pound yard on Friday. I wasn’t allowed to get him out over the weekend so I had to stay the weekend to wait till today (Monday) to get him before I returned to QLD. When I went to get him this morning I was informed he had died “sometime Sunday”… “
Cassandra thought that a pound was a safe place for Choppie to stay while the administration details of her reclaim got sorted out. But sadly a weekend stay would be the end for her pet.
“He had been left there all day and night for the ants to crawl all over him. My children are distraught, so am I.
I thought that he would be looked after, how wrong I was.”
Locals are understandably upset that their local pound could produce such disastrous results. Nambucca Council have responded via email (in part) to their concerns:
The dog was found roaming unattended near the water tower at Nambucca Heads by a passing resident who delivered the animal to a local vet.
The dog was micro-chipped; however in attempting to contact the owner it was found that the animal was registered to another person, i.e, the current owner had not changed/updated the registration details and was therefore unable to be contacted.
The dog was checked by the vet and released to the pound on Friday afternoon – the dog was checked for ticks around the areas normally afflicted with nil result
No-one had contacted the council about a lost animal at close of business Friday
The dog was fed on Saturday and was healthy however when attended on Sunday the animal had passed away
The owner’s sister contacted council on Monday morning as the owner had returned to Queensland and was informed of the unfortunate occurrence.
……
Council operates a pound not an animal shelter.Trusting this addresses your concerns
So there you have it. ‘Council operates a pound, not an animal shelter’, so if your dog drops dead while staying with us, kindly stick your concerns because… pound.
It can be assumed because they mentioned ticks in their email, Council are asserting that Choppie died overnight of a paralysis tick. However, an extremely sick dog in the throes of dying from the symptoms of tick bite (difficulty eating, vomiting, unsteadiness, hind weakness, loss of muscle movements, poor reflexes, excessive drooling and/or respiratory distress) should have been desperately obvious to anyone feeding Choppie on Saturday, for him to have died just 12-24hrs later on Sunday.
Nambucca Pound has previously seen public criticism for having a near perfect 100% kill rate for pets entering their facility. I guess if pets are kind enough to simply drop dead it saves Council cash money, so silver linings.
How many more Australia?
We pay registration, we pay for permits if we wish to have more than the council limit of animals, We expect that if our loved pets happen to escape, that council would spend some of that money on keeping them safe. I am so glad our little country pound has a ranger who respects animals & appreciates that accidents do happen, and even responsible owners can have their babies escape every now & again.
This is pathetic and disgusting. The people in the Nambucca Pound should be sacked. The laws have to be changed, and the local government member should also respond. There is no excuse for ANY animal to be mis-treated by the government, or not re-homed to someone else.
OMG…..so so very sad….and their “explanation” is deplorable. What sort of world do they live in that they think this is an acceptable or excusable outcome?
This is wrong, why did this poor dog die, he was a healthy dog when he went missing. Alos, I know the council is closed on weekends, but the dog pound should be open for emergency things..If it was a dog that needed picking up the after hours would be there, so seeing it was a visitor to the area, then they should have released it under an after hours thing.. We need to know why this loved pet died. Nambucca Shire stand up and be counted, do not hide under the cover of we do not comment
Don’t people who work in pounds have any semblence of compassion? Very cold reply from council, it seems they are worried about accepting any responsibility. Don’t we pay registration fees? Council needs to use these fees only for costs associated with looking after lost animals. Conditions in pounds need to meet a minimum standard.
I found a dog, and she had 4 puppy’s , I helped her through the birthing period. After 2 wks. Took them all to the Campbelltown pound. I gave them to the keeper and asked would they be looked after well. Yes we will care and find homes for the puppies. On the way home my three kids were so upset, that I turned the car around and went back for them. Only to find them in a shed, In a old bag all dead.
The keeper/caretaker killed them all when I left the premises on my first arrival.
I won’t surrender any animal to council facilities Now.
Sack these people that run this pound this little dog should have been safe
Call the RSPCA as its a violation of Animal Rights, the pound has a duty of care and for that dog to just die is unacceptable. They should be sacked and charged with negligence and abuse of animals.
doesnt seem that a concern for animal welfare is a prerequisite for working at a pound, this story matches many other horror stories about the staff at council pounds and the fate of animals in their care. having had a few experiences with pound staff, have found them to be somewhat retarded loosers who cant work in a team and have litte in the way of social skills. recently lost my dog, which since returned, and the slime at the local council wouldnt even take details. i would have been very upset if that story above had happened to my dog, because the pound cant allow a viewing over the weekend.do the dogs get fed over the weekends, does anyone check their welfare?
that little dog should not have died, nambucca council you have shown yourselves to be cruel people in defending what is obviously a negligent, thoughtless lack of concern for the welfare of this and many other lost animals
What an absolute disgrace. My sincere condolences to the family. As for the Council – you are nothing more than a pack of heartless thugs. What is the point of registration, then? I hope the family sues.