HeelerLove

They posted this to facebook on Monday: ........................**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT**........................... On Tuesday 26th March representatives from Pound Rounds and the public met with the senior management of Blacktown City Council; those who control the operation at the pound. Senior management claimed full responsibility for the decisions made in the lead up to the killing of 5+ dogs on Friday the 15th March. The council stand by their decision to have outside assessors “temperament test” pets and kill those that failed the test applied. The council, however, confirm that they have now rescinded the universal application of this model going forward. They confirmed they would seek independent review in mid April of the processes undertaken at the pound regarding rehoming options. They confirmed that until that review was complete and the report submitted to their Urban Animal Management subcommittee , the process of rehoming and pet rehoming assessment would return to the status quo; the status quo that has achieved the most successful rehoming period in the pounds history. What was also presented by Pound Rounds however was the need for that overview (to be done in April) to NOT focus exclusively on the mere process of temperament testing. What would that achieve? The current method and model of temperament testing is unreliable and unscientific (at the best of times let alone in a pound environment) and this fact is categorically supported the recent report issued by the NSW Companion Animal Taskforce calling for the development of a “behavioural assessment” model that “must be consistent, repeatable and validated (ie: through appropriate peer review, widespread use over the long term etc)” and “must remove (as much as possible) elements which may provoke negative reactions in animals“ (Page 18 of the NSW Companion Animal Taskforce [NSWCAT] Dangerous Dogs report). It was also accepted by the Taskforce that it should be ensured “all relevant stakeholders (including representatives from councils, animal welfare organisations and animal rescue groups) are able to have input into the agreed standard.” (Page 18 NSWCAT). Facts and viewpoints that were not taken into account on Friday 15th March. Pound Rounds also requested that 3 major factors be taken into account in any further appraisal; 1) The NSW CA Taskforce repeatedly cites the Calgary model where “Rehabilitative animal behavioural training is a key focus” (Page 13). Rehabilitation is also the number choice of the Blacktown Council electorate when given a choice, polling over 95% in favour when asked if the council should help dogs that display aggression in the pound to be rehomed. This fact is also supported by the overwhelming number of submissions to Option 16 in the Taskforce’s main report – over 90% in favour of rehoming vs killing, and rehabilitation over a killing model (Page 30-42). You will note the highest number of public submissions (outside orchestrated industry interests) pertained to the following; • “Make it compulsory for councils to adopt "Getting to Zero" no-kill policies” (Only a ban of pet shop sales and including rescue groups as a reference group received higher submissions than this element). • “Introduce key performance indicators for council and pound staff focussed on reducing euthanasia rates” • “Redefine temperament testing of impounded animals to improve rehoming” • “Needs to be supported and facilitated (ie: not just partner councils with AWO's and expect good results)” 2) The data used, in support of temperament testing to kill, simply does not exist; not for Blacktown pound and not for any other area or group in Australia. Using the NSW Companion Animal Taskforce’s OWN statistics less than 0.01% of all dogs in NSW have been involved in any dog or human injury (when extrapolated to ALL dogs not just registered pets). Put another way, more than 99.99% of dogs did not physically injure a dog or a person. So exactly why is anyone trying to kill them at all? By the Taskforces own admission (which further REDUCES to microscopic that figure) is the experts documented “concern that the current dog attack reporting framework may also somewhat overstate the extent of “serious” dog attacks that occur in NSW” (Page 14 NSWCAT). 3) Perhaps most importantly though is that ultimately the council has a duty under 64(5) and 64A(2) of the Companion Animal Act 1998 to seek alternatives to killing if practicable. To honour that obligation the pound staff and even senior management need the resources to be able to take the legal and moral actions required of them. Under Section 31 of their own Employment contracts, pound staff are entitled to a safe working environment. Pound Rounders we need to help council understand that their staff need help. • Blacktown has double the number of dogs and half the number of kennels per impound than comparable council and private facilities, including Hawkesbury, Renbury & Campbelltown. HALF. 50%. ½. How can they save lives like that? • Blacktown City Council has half the number of kennel hands appointed to daily care of your pets, affording your pets with less than 1 minute each, on any given day. How can they save lives like that? Almost all facilities in the Sydney Metropolitan area are low enough to be No Kill (10-15%), where only genuine cases of euthanasia for dogs are found (savage, declared dangerous, restricted or terminal illness). Yet there I sat in a meeting with people who seemed very frustrated that we questioned the killing of 70% of dogs on a kill list. They seemed frustrated with being questioned at all and yet paradoxically very well meaning. Realisation dawned. These people don’t write the cheques. What an intolerable rock and hard place, where only the strongest survive unscathed; staff and impounds alike. One of the most frustrating moments in all of this was having the council respond with “their” 88% rehoming rate. Ask what “their” rehoming rate was (without the fudged “surrendered” figures) prior to April 2011. Prior to Pound Rounds. Prior to you, Jo dog loving Public. Prior to the Blacktown community, other rescues and the rest of Australia jumping on board the Council support wagon – to help not hinder, to save lives, not attack the council, believing in a synergy. To the council I would say this: We stay up together until the early dawn trying to find homes for your communities’ pets, Blacktown council. Pound Rounds and their crew have spent over a quarter of a million dollars saving your pets Blacktown council. We support rescues that support your pets, support adopters who adopt your pets, advertise your pets, pay for their transport to new homes all over Australia, desex your pets and we spend almost every dime to kennel your pets - at our expense when your facility is full, Blacktown council. We are not just “a rescue” who supports any pound or surrender, Mr Mayor, we are your community. We exclusively support Blacktown and Hawkesbury pounds. We have more than a dozen people working almost full time, from lawyers, scholars and accountants to single mums and dads; supporting your impound facility in reaching 88%. 2 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later, with respect, Mr Mayor, we know those impounds, we know who lives and dies at your pound, as passionately as if they were our own dogs. You don’t have to be an expert to simply care. Ultimately we chose to support Blacktown for two reasons. Firstly, while others argued backwards and forwards about why dogs were killed, we believed the well-meaning staff simply couldn’t do it alone and didn’t deserve to be set adrift by their community, as well as a council that gave them no additional resources (or alternative models) to prevent killing. Your staff made the difference. They did care. They did consult. They were doing what they could, with what they had. Secondly, because we needed to show it was “practicable”. The words “unwanted” and “you can’t save them all” still echo in my ears. It’s now the 1st of March 2013. Around NSW, the amazing work of SoCares, Sydney Cats and Dogs Home, Sutherland Shire Council, Wyong pound, Renbury Animal Farm and rescues like AWDRI have all made giant strides into killing fields and brought the lowest kill rates in the history of pounds and shelters. It is no longer inspirational; they broke barriers and raised the benchmark. Is it practicable? Obviously. Today marks the 2nd year Anniversary for Pound Rounds. We have tens of thousands of followers, a reach of over 350,000 and our highest viewed post was 89,000. None of those numbers mean a thing when I look into the eyes of Billy3412 (may he Rest In Peace) and then turn as I watch my young Zachary521 sleep. Same origins, two paths, so very different. I would do it all again for him. I would spend it all again for him. For you Billy – I would all do it again for you. For all the pets to come, we will continue to do it all, as a community, for you.

What a beautiful poem, thank you for sharing. I know this feeling well.. to me, my dogs are my kids and some people just can't seem to understand that. "We played with him until we were exhausted and could take no more, Then had to put up with sad eyes and tantrums, as “sad sack” hit the floor." Lol, love the 'sad sack' bit. I get sad eyes and head butts when I stop patting my girl to try to do something else and when she realises there's not going to be any more attention for a little while she'll give a big sigh, makes me laugh. I can't imagine life without a dog anymore.

I've been checking the facebook page every half an hour or so hoping to see they have found them.. can't imagine what the poor owners and the dogs are going through Judging by the pictures of the car and trailer they posted they are very lucky to have walked away from the accident and lucky the dogs were also mostly unharmed.. hoping the 2 missing girls are found soon and safely

A friend named his dog Buddy, and when his housemate got a puppy they named him Franklin to suit lol :) That is excellent, gave me a good giggle! I love human names for pets. My boy is called Gus and it suits him as when I picture a human with the name Gus I think of a stubborn old man and that's exactly what he is lol. Another friend has quite a collection of lizards and snakes and their names include Karen, Doris, Simon and Garth. When I was young my family had a cat called Lucky and he actually was.. he found his way under the bonnet of the car for a nap one day and dad started it without realising and his tail was cut off in the fan, he was run over twice (not by anyone in the family), was blind, deaf and was bitten by a snake, surviving all of it only to die peacefully of old age.

Happy birthday Ziggy! What an adorable face!

The heeler pups ohh i think my heart is melting lol. They are all adorable but I have such a soft spot for heelers. Don't think my two oldies would appreciate a baby as much as me though hehehe.. and I imagine the hubby wouldn't be too impressed either! Hope all these babies find the very best of homes. And please keep adding pictures :D

My boy does all the usual manic leg and mouth twitching and loud (very loud!) snoring whilst asleep.. I think the cutest thing though is sometimes he will poke his tounge out just a little bit.. just so you can see the very tip lol. My girl usually just gets comfy and doesn't seem to dream or move around too much.. I don't know how she can sleep through Gussy's snoring.. she sleeps right next to him and we sleep in another room and are kept awake by it sometimes lol.

If it was online or via email yes, probably not if it was hard copy though. Education is a powerful thing, especially for first time pet owners. I love learning especially if it can benefit my dogs or make me a better owner. Health articles would be of particular interest to me.

She is beautiful, glad to hear she has improved so quickly!

My boy is called Gus. Suits the stubborn old man to a tee :)

My boy is the same and I'm with you on this one.. I think he does it on purpose just to have a laugh at me! Especially hard when out on walkies and trying to pick up in a bag lol.

Glad to hear she is getting better, what a scary thing to happen.

My girl is a bit like this. Put her food in her bowl and she just looks at you like 'what am I meant to do with this?'. Sometimes she won't start eating until I've told her 'eat your tucker' then will take a couple of bites and look at me again until I repeat it. Other times she gobbles it down as quickly as she can. She has been a lot better since I adopted my boy who inhales his food rather than eating it and is always on the look out for more. Without fail he always checks her bowl once she has walked away just in case she left any crumbs lol.

how did i only just find this thread!? adorable! you can tell from the photos that he is a cheeky little guy. all your horses are just stunning

I'm confused.. on the Moorook page or other rescues pages?

Julie, thank you! :) The geography is a bit of a bugger. They are 2.5 hours out of Adelaide CBD in a fairly remote area and it seems a lot of the people out there are quite happy to dump their unwanted dogs on them but not so willing to help them out. I have sent them a message with your details, I hope they consider your offer. Can you give me some town names which are in the general area so I can have a look and see if we have listed anyone who is ready to jump in and help around where you are? Barmera, Glossop, Berri, Loxton, Waikerie, Renmark, Paringa are the closest towns of a reasonable size. I am not associated in any way with Moorook other than adopting a dog from them. I'm about 3-3.5 hours away from them, otherwise I would have already put my hand up to volunteer. Here's a start on some town names, Steve These are areas covered by the Wakefield electorate which is the area that Mark Aldridge covers. Moorook doesn't fall into that area. The closest town in that electorate is probably Kapunda which is about 150kms from Moorook, still closer than Adelaide though :)

Julie, thank you! :) The geography is a bit of a bugger. They are 2.5 hours out of Adelaide CBD in a fairly remote area and it seems a lot of the people out there are quite happy to dump their unwanted dogs on them but not so willing to help them out. I have sent them a message with your details, I hope they consider your offer.

beautiful photos, what a special girl. she must be a great mum :)

what a gorgeous looking boy

Very sorry to hear. Such a cutie.

Roo is one beautiful dog. Don't really have anything constructive to add but just wanted to say I have been following this thread and I am wishing you and your gorgeous girl all the best.

Also would like to share a post from the Moorook facebook page that was put up about an hour ago: FOSTER CARERS: I'd also like to talk about foster carers. Lots of people are suggesting we use foster carers to reduce the number of dogs in the shelter and on the surface it seems like a good solution, but we have considered this in the past and decided it was not an option for us. For one, we have a very limited number of volunteers who also work full time. To run a foster care program effectively we really need one person dedicated to full time supervision and until one of us wins lotto that's just not going to happen. Secondly a lot of foster carer programs fail because of excessive veterinary bills - unfamiliar carers taking the animals to the vet for a minor cut or scrape. For example my boy scraped the underneath of his chin yesterday causing quite a bit of blood, but he didn't need veterinary treatment. NO-KILL & WHAT IT MEANS TO US We are a shelter with the primary goal of saving the lives of the dogs and cats in the Riverland via the local Councils. People have asked have we ever euthanised a dog or cat? Well the answer is yes, we have. We're not inhumane, we wont let an animal suffer unnecessarily. We believe in quality of life and if an animal can be rehabilitated from injuries we will certainly give it our best go providing it isn't at the detriment of the animal. If the animal is old, but happy well we aren't going to pts the animal just because of age. If, due to old age, the animal is suffering, well that is different and the hard decision needs to be made.

http://www.markmaldridge.com Independent Candidate for Wakefield Wakefield electorate covers an area of approximately 6407 sq km from Salisbury in the northern suburbs of Adelaide to Clare in the Clare Valley, 135 km north of Adelaide. The main suburbs include Elizabeth, Salisbury (part), Craigmore and Munno Para. The towns of Virginia, Gawler, Port Wakefield (part), Balaklava, Clare, Kapunda, Riverton, Mallala, Freeling, Tarlee and Williamstown are also included in this division. edited to add - Also owner of Willow Wood Sanctuary - a privately run sanctuary for injured and abused native wild life.

Lola 'surrended' the dogs after the numerous RSPCA inspectors that were there the first time told her the only alternative was to pay $100 a day per dog which was not possible without putting the welfare of the remaining dogs at risk. So sad for the three dogs that were put down. Tommy was totally blind, due to old age. He had been rehomed about 18 months ago but did not cope in the different environment and as soon as he was returned to the shelter and put back in his run with his 'companion dog' he was happy once again. http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=585383931490718&set=pb.106267389402377.-2207520000.1363297736&type=3&theater Wombles also looked like an older dog and only had one eye and one ear but looked perfectly happy and healthy in the photo Moorook posted of him enjoying cuddles with one of the volunteers. http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=585363704826074&set=pb.106267389402377.-2207520000.1363297736&type=3&theater Bear was put to sleep because he was old. No other reason. Having adopted a senior dog myself this really gets me. There is nothing better than giving an old dog the love and care they deserve in their last years. If a dog is old and not suffering there is no reason to put it to sleep

RIP Oakley. What a gorgeous looking boy. That photo of him with his sister holding paws..