A full month into 2015 and still no news from the Lost Dogs Home regarding their absent CEO.
Of the seven board members, two have now resigned (Scovell & Crossley). Other board members including the Acting Manager and Board Chairperson Andrew Tribe, are now on-site regularly trying to determine strategy and calm unsettled staff. How does a community organisation who has lost the confidence of its community, begin to claw their way back into relevancy when their policies and strategies have been found to be decades out of date?
Rescue groups were the key according to Tribe, who said the organisation needed to reach out to these groups to help it save animals.
An excellent idea for any pound looking to reduce their kill rates, except for one small but conspicuous detail; rescue have been long been fighting for access to pets that The Home was choosing to kill, while having their very life’s work dismissed as unprofessional and the act of bleeding hearts. Graeme Smith has spent the last two decades running down independent rescue groups as untrustworthy animal hoarders to anyone who’d listen – even coining the phrase ‘the backyard rescuer’ – so as not to be forced to release animals to them. I expect there’ll be little support for the LDH from established community rescue, without a very public apology and ousting of management.
Breed groups especially those of the ‘bully’ persuasion, have little fondness for Smith, after years of him bleating hysterically to the media and trying his absolute best to drive for legislation to eradicate block-headed dogs. While staffy owners have long feared the policies his organisation very publicly supported, and have followed the resulting heartbreak, as Bear and Kooda, Kerser and Mylo all fell foul of Victoria’s incredibly draconian BSL.
Smith’s support for BSL and mandatory desexing, has put the organisation at odds with the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA). In this ironic showdown, the AVA argued that both BSL and MD would increase intakes and that would be a bad thing, while the Lost Dogs Home maintained the extra killing would be worth it (and it probably would be – for you – if your business model was impounding animals in greater and greater numbers)
The long-time feud between the RSPCA and Smith was in full swing in 2011, when he accused the organisation of adopting out illegal ‘pit bull terriers’. The two organisations have not been seen on the same bill since.
While the other major animal welfare organisation, The Lort Smith, clashed with the LDH after a campaign to strip the Lort Smith of its shelter licences and access to Melbourne animals. No love lost there.
The Sydney Dogs and Cats Home used publicity around The Home to strike a blow for compassionate sheltering, announcing;
If the coverage from (the LDH) has taught us anything it’s that the world of animal welfare is changing… finally… for the better. High euthanasia rates and low levels of care just won’t cut it anymore. The community has spoken. And now our Government is speaking out too.
But with all these factions standing by to stick the boot in, it wasn’t ALL bad news. The LDH has one supporter – notorious and similarly outdated, kill-shelter apologists PETA;
“…. and the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of people who allow more animals to be born when there aren’t enough good homes for those that already exist.”
PETA and the LDH; a match made in pet-killer-blame-the-public heaven.
So, with more people rooting for the organisation’s demise, than publicly championing its success, how does the organisation begin the process of redemption?
It must announce the dethroning of the two most culpable parties – Graeme Smith and Sue Conroy.
Smith has lead the organisation directly into its current state of disrepute. While Conroy acted as his executioner, directing frontline staff to act in ways most normal pet-loving people would find abhorrent.
Then the board must reform – announcing that they acknowledge that they’ve been asleep at the wheel this entire time and will be looking to recruit new management, with a life-saving focus. Any board members on the side of history – who do not fully reject the failures of the past – must be jettisoned also.
A slow-burn, behind the scenes restoration of the very same players who landed the organisation in the current shambles, is not acceptable to the community.
If the Lost Dogs Home want a future in our modern pet-loving Australian society, then they must catch up to our present. They must take a strong stand and announce a new direction – a future of humane and benevolent leadership and a beginning of living up to their promise of ‘compassion and care’.
