HeelerLove

Thanks BlackJaq. In regards to desexing before rehoming this is definitely being done now. My boy was entire when dumped there and was desexed in the week before I picked him up.

No offence taken at all. The shelter is over two hours away from me, so it's a bit hard to get out there to help. If I lived closer I would. I help where I can by sharing profiles of dogs for adoption and trying to get the word out about them etc. were thy killed immediately? I'm with HW on this one. 2 sides to the story with the truth somewhere in between Amendment - three of the seven dogs were pts within the first couple of days of being taken by the RSPCA. They were health and happy and were pts for no reason other than being 'too old'. Any chance you can post the link? Did a quick search but couldn't find anything, would like to read it. In my dealings with them, they were nothing but helpful and professional. As stated in the original post, all photos I have seen (not just of the dogs but also of the shelter) and all comments from other people that have been there have hinted there was nothing to be concerned about. There are not many no kill shelters in Adelaide and this was one of the reasons I support them. If things are not as they seem I will be very wary about recommending/supporting them in the future. In regards to the dogs being handed over off site, I believe if you are from the metro area you can collect the dog from a location in Adelaides north for a $20 extra fee. Given that the shelter is in the middle of nowhere a couple of hrs from Adelaide, and you couldn't get there for $20 most people would agree that it's a bargain & a time saver.....but yes that would mean taking a dog 'site unseen' .... I believe there are only a couple of dogs that have been there for that long. There isn't much of an alternative but to pts. If conditions are as bad as what people are saying maybe pts would be the best option but if the dogs are being cared for correctly wouldn't it be better for them to be given the chance to live? The shelter is a few hours out of Adelaide, and yes they offer a 'delivery service'. I did pick up my boy sight unseen, but had spent a lot of time both on the phone to them and emailing them and had made sure he would be a good match for our family before I offered to take him on a 2 week trial period. If he hadn't of worked out at any stage in the first two weeks they told me they would take him back and refund the adoption fee. Everything they told me about him was correct and honest and he is the perfect fit for us and our girl. edited for spelling

I hope you don't mind me posting here and I hope this is the right section for this. The shelter that I adopted my boy from just released the following statement: 7th March 2012 Yesterday we were inspected by the RSPCA after being reported by a local resident with a personal grudge. The report was for having too many dogs and the premises being untidy. We have never described the shelter as ‘The Ritz’. We are aware on first impressions that it looks like a mess but we use and salvage every item possible for the benefit of the animals. What we can’t salvage for our own purposes we sell as scrap, including cans, bottles and scrap steel. The shelter is for animals with no other option, who without us would’ve been put to sleep. Some animals come in heavily traumatised from the abuse suffered at their owner’s hands. We do our best to rehabilitate, medically treat and provide love and care to these animals and we have a very good success rate in doing so. These dogs are now in happy, loving homes and described as the ‘best dog ever’. Most of our dogs and cats come from the local Riverland Councils and community, yet we get very little support in return. Of the thousands of residents in the Riverland we have only 3 regular volunteers to care for the animals and clean the kennels. Yesterday we had to surrender seven of our dogs and one kitten. This was a heartbreaking day for us. One of the dogs was blind, but happy and secure in his run. Another had been heavily traumatised and showed fear with strangers but loved the volunteers. He was a silly, happy, wiggly boy when with them. Others we don’t understand why they were chosen, except for maybe their breed. One of them being a girl we had spent several thousand dollars on removing a limb when she was involved in a car accident. This has been a heavy blow to us as we have always tried to do everything possible to save the lives of these unwanted animals and find them safe and happy homes. We receive no government funding. All our helpers, including administration, are unpaid volunteers who also have their own lives, families, pets and employment to work into their timetables. Our funds come from the sale of animals, volunteers own pockets and sponsorships. We have never refused an animal. No matter if the animal requires intensive care or is easily rehomable we have always assisted. It didn’t matter if the animal was a purebred or a cross breed, we didn’t discriminate. We now have no choice but to limit our intake of animals to only the local councils. We will no longer be able to assist private surrenders or anyone outside of the Riverland community. Lola McLachlan Moorook Animal Shelter I am disgusted that because one person holds a grudge (apparently this person wanted to adopt a dog but were refused due to their past questionable animal keeping ethics) the RSPCA can swoop in and seize these animals. The shelter in question is a not for profit, no kill shelter that, until now, accepted not only animals from the council but charged residents of the riverland no fee to dump their no longer wanted pets on them. They have had litters of puppies and kittens dumped in boxes at their front gates in the middle of the night and in one case, a mother cat and her kittens were left at the gate in a taped up box in the middle of a 40+ degree day.. the shelter was open that day, there was no reason to leave those poor animals at the gate. I have been a 'liker' of their facebook page for over two years now and some of the dogs up for adoption have been on there since that whole time. They care about the animals when no one else does. They are ethical - all dogs are vaccinated, wormed, flea'd and if they came in entire, desexed before going to new safe and loving homes. Amendment - three out of 7 dogs were euthanised within a couple of days of being taken by the RSPCA. These dogs were all healthy and happy and were pts simply for 'being old'. This post is moreso a bit of a rant.. but also serves a purpose. Can anyone tell me if the RSPCA has acted properly here? I have not been to the shelter myself so can not comment on the condition of the place, but my boy came to me clean, no worms, no fleas and if anything, a little bit overweight. That suggests to me that if the health or intergrity of the animals was in danger, there would have been a good chance he would have at the very least had fleas. I look at the photos of dogs available for adoption almost every day and have never noticed anything that would suggest the conditions there are concerning. I do not know a lot about rescue.. is there a limit to how many dogs a shelter can have at one time? I know it will most likely be overlooked, but I will be writing a letter to the RSPCA expressing my disgust at what they have done. There are numerous other people on the shelters facebook page that will be doing the same. If there is anything you think I should include or can pass on to others to include, I would love to hear it.

Definitely sounds that way She quotes "I said where are you taking him and he said they would probably take him to Dubbo and he'd end up in a good home with an enclosed yard" that to me sounds like their yard was not enclosed and supports the PDF that the dog has been found wandering numerous times. Very sad, but proves that it is extremely important to read anything you are given to sign before you sign it and ask questions if you are unsure.

I like 'gotcha day'.. I decided that my rescue boys birthday would just be the day I got him (even though I have got no idea how old he is or when he was actually born!) but I think I'll change it to 'gotcha day' instead :) Happy gotcha day Lucy!

No offence intended at all :) I quite like the name Shazza and I call my best mates mum Shaz or Shazza when I see her (and I'm a closet bogan myself :p) I just couldn't quite bring myself to name my dog Shazza, especially when thinking of recall exercises haha.

Gus was already called Gus when he came from the shelter and being an older and not so clever boy I thought it would be silly to change it. It suits him anyway. Being an ACD, we felt we had to give Shez an aussie name but I didn't have the heart to call her Shazza haha. So she started out as Shezza which turned into Shezzy and now is just Shez.

I haven't been on DOL for long but I have gone through a lot of the old threads and read a lot of Charlie stories. It is obvious he brought a lot of joy to your life and you to his. I can't imagine how hard this would be for you, but at least you know you gave Charlie the best life possible. I'm very sorry for your loss.

:cry: beautiful and so well written but so, so sad. I dread the day I have to say goodbye to my beloved pooches.

saw this yesterday and had a good giggle. Hope the officer doesn't end up getting in trouble, it's just a bit of fun!

I wasn't sure what to think when I first saw it, which is why I posted it up here - I was interested in what others would say. They say that she 'isn't in pain' and that's why they haven't pts. If it was me, I would have pts, in pain or not. Sure she 'looks' happy but I agree with what others have said, she can't breathe properly and can barely walk. What type of life is that for a dog?

I wouldn't change a thing. Don't even mind doing poo pick up and trying to sleep through snoring that is louder than my other halfs even though it comes from another room. I couldn't imagine life without a dog.

he must have been pretty out of control if the taser shots couldn't bring him down, being hit by one would normally be enough. Poor dog

she is gorgeous.. i just want to snuggle her!

You definitly haven't failed her! You have done so much when many other people would have thrown in the towel long ago. Don't beat yourself up.

another dog attack and another case of the owner of the attacking dog just slinking off without even an apology. Hope they find him very soon. RIP Elfie

http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2013/02/sassy-a-perfect-dog-in-an-imperfect-world/ the poor little thing. there are only a couple of photos on the link but if you click the link to the facebook page in the article there are heaps more.

A collection of cattle dogs :)

what a tool. Hope the poor dog has a better life now.

Wow Jed that is amazing. Very comforting for those that have lost their furry friends. Thank you for sharing.

Done

RIP Charlie. How devastating for the owners. I hope this makes the neighbours wake up as to what their dogs are capable of and ensure they can't get out anymore.

Bit more info here.. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2270245/US-Military-set-scan-puppy-brains-bid-best-war-dogs.html?ito=feeds-newsxml Interesting to say the least lol

Great news!