simone07

My name is Simone Lieschke, I am one of the former volunteers who went to media regarding the issues at Wagga Pound. I have read this thread and just wanted to clarify some things. Please have a look at our recently released response to Council’s Open Letter here: https://www.change.org/p/wagga-wagga-city-council-saviour-s-petition-improve-animal-welfare-at-wagga-wagga-pound-g-r-a-s/u/16651433 The volunteer program was suspended in May 2015, to allow Council to update the program, especially OHS issues. Myself, Myriam and Belinda were all supportive of this update. All volunteers were asked to reapply for their positions. We chose not to, as at the time we were corresponding with Council regarding animal welfare concerns. We have been in discussion with Council since March 2015. We were hoping to resolve these issues with Council, however after approximately 12 months of meetings and many emails/phone conversations, we found very little had changed, and in early 2016 Council stopped corresponding, even though the issues still needed to be addressed. We tried very hard to resolve these issues cooperatively with Council. We felt we had no option but to bring this to media’s attention, as the animals were still suffering, even after a year of correspondence. Issues have been raised with Council from various people since 2011, yet these same issues are still occurring in 2016. Most of the rangers have been employed there for a number of years. The ranger that knocked out Saviour the kitten was still working at GRAS as recently as April 2016. Please see this article: http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/3835444/ranger-in-frozen-cat-scandal-still-working/ As volunteers work only during public viewing hours, there should be no confidentiality agreement needed. In relation to animal cruelty, all people should be encouraged to speak out. As long-term volunteers (from 2-5 years, volunteering up to 9 hours per week) we took upon many tasks (such as cleaning, feeding, walking dogs, hosing, washing, etc) to help the rangers, and brought in supplies for the animals, such as beds, bedding, dog coats, puppy and kitten food. We were more than happy to do anything the rangers asked of us, such as show people around, move animals from the deposit pens, bring animals to the office, etc. I offered a number of times to help the rangers take photos of the animals and upload them on to the Council website (this was rejected by the rangers). We all really enjoyed volunteering there. Sadly, it was only due to media that changes have started to occur, and we are hoping they will continue, but there is still a lot of improvements needed. Even in the last few weeks, we have seen the same issues still occurring, such as the Council website not being kept up to date with photos/info of impounded animals, animals without water, mishandling of animals, an emaciated puppy not being provided with extra care or treated appropriately, rangers speaking inappropriately to members of the public, etc. Our knowledge comes from working at GRAS on a very regular basis. The concerns we have raised come from our own first-hand observations while volunteering over the years. The Sun Herald article was based on documented evidence.

It is in alphabetical order in your MEMBERS AREA, but on the public page there is a feed on the right and they are not in alphabetical order, they are in bumping order

if anyone is confused about the bumping on PR, I have just worked out how to bump more easily. 1. log in 2. go to rescue directory and search for your rescue then click on it 3. on the right will be the list of animals you have in care - go to the last page of these listings (because the ones on the last page will be the ones that need the bumping) 4. click on a listing 5. there is a little 'bump' button next to the edit button above the photo - click it and it bumps the listing also I have just bookmarked our rescue page so I don't have to manually look for it in the rescue directory every time - I just go to my recent bookmarked pages on my browser and click our rescue page bookmark sorry if people already knew this, just took me ages to work out and is so much easier now so thought I would share

Hi there, not sure if this question has been asked before so forgive me if it has but I couldn't see anything about it I am wondering if bloodhounds would work well on sheep farms to help farmers catch foxes? does anyone have any experience, info, opinions about this? thanks!

A bit OT, but what does the bolded bit mean? What - they just use them for blood and then euth when done with them Is that correct?? They have been doing this for years with greyhounds. The blood is used for dogs in need of donations. I rescued a greyhound a few years ago that had been given to a vet for that purpose. wow. does the dog get any stimulation, social interaction, walks, etc?

great post! In regards to some rescues/people, they have too much emotion and it destroys their judgement and ultimately leads to them burning out. The key to longevity is to pace yourself and don't take on too much - we would all love to take home the 10 dogs due to be pts at the pound, but we need to stay practical and professional if we are going to help any animals. Emotions don't help animals.

What a fantastic idea! and some great activities to get the kids away from the tv and video games and get them out experiencing life