Animal House

How wonderful SG, nothing like being in your own place (I was sure I had replied to this yesterday, but now I can't find it, apologies if I do it twice :laugh: )

Such a beautiful tribute to a much loved (and handsome) boy, run free Appollo for you and the family, it's so hard to let them go isn't it

Nice shots, congratulations!

Well, the original poster hasn't logged in since first posting this, perhaps it's all been resolved, or maybe it was a troll.

. Poor Merlin

Happy birthday Odie, what a beautiful smooshy face she has! Love the photos

No need to don a flame suit Gruf, it would be wonderful if dogs didn't end up in shelters in the first place, absolutely. Mandatory (maybe subsidised) desexing (unless a breeder/show dog) microchipping, banning pet shop sales of animals, same for puppy farms, public education, etc etc all needs to be implemented. People have to take responsibility for their animals, sadly I can't see it changing anytime soon, despite petitions and outrage on several of those issues. But in the meantime, the Lost Dogs Home have a disgusting kill rate, the many, many stories from former employees about the place is sickening, and an idiot for a MD who is more interested in profit than animals, etc etc....all this needs to be investigated, it's long overdue and I'm hoping the Gov't doesn't fudge it.

http://www.abc.net.a...s-home/6032796. Print Email Facebook Twitter More Lost Dogs' Home: Victorian Government to investigate North Melbourne animal shelter Updated about 3 hours agoThu 22 Jan 2015, 8:56am PHOTO: The North Melbourne Lost Dogs' Home provides pound services for 13 councils in Victoria, the Government says.(ABC News: Mark Moore )MAP: North Melbourne 3051[/url]A formal investigation into housing conditions and the euthanasia rate at the North Melbourne Lost Dogs' Home has been launched by the Victorian Government. The move comes after social media campaigns, including a petition started on January 16, which has almost 10,000 signatures, as well as plans for a rally by animal rescue groups. Victorian Minister for Agriculture Jaala Pulford announced the investigation on social media. "Due to the concerns of many Victorians about animal welfare at the Lost Dogs Home I have directed officers of the department to investigate," Ms Pulford said on Facebook and Twitter. Ms Pulford said she had been contacted by a huge number of concerned Victorians about the organisation. "They've contacted us through social media channels, calls to the office, Facebook, Twitter, emails - it's been a great deal of contact, particularly in recent days," Mr Pulford said. "We think there's a community concern here that needs to be responded to quickly." Ms Pulford said the the majority of concerns were around "high euthanasia rates, issues around the identification of owner's of animals, accommodation and housing of animals, and the assessment of animals for re-homing". It was reported this week that a widow's pet dog Fonzie was put down by the Lost Dogs' Home after the owner had called to claim it. President of Rescued with Love Kae Norman, who organised the petition and rally, said she started raising concerns about the Lost Dogs' Home a decade ago. "I think there's been a lot of convenience killing ... I think there's some serious issues in management, I don't think there's enough life saving techniques," Ms Norman said. What we need is for Lost Dogs' Home to be running as a lifesaving shelter, instead of a killing shelter and that will only happen with a change of management, protocols and public awareness to open up the shelter. Kae Norman, Rescued with Love "I think there's a culture of killing that isn't prevalent in a lot of other animal shelters." The Lost Dogs' Home provides pound services for 13 local councils in Victoria, Ms Pulford said. Ms Norman said she was not calling for another provider to be found, but for a change of culture at the home. "Melbourne has two what we call super-pounds, the RSPCA and the Lost Dogs' Home," she said. "The Lost Dogs' Home probably has the biggest facility at the moment to handle the number of animals that come in through these councils. "But what we need is for Lost Dogs' Home to be running as a lifesaving shelter, instead of a killing shelter and that will only happen with a change of management, protocols and public awareness to open up the shelter." Lost Dogs' Home conducting its own review Chair of the Lost Dogs' Home Dr Andrew Tribe said it had begun its own review into its policies and practices, and create a "more transparent... cooperative and... more compassionate approach". "We want to continue to reduce the numbers of animals put to sleep – through increasing adoption, and continuing education and outreach programs to reduce abandoned and lost animals," Dr Tribe said in a statement. "We are increasing our behavioural resources to further develop our animal assessment and rehabilitation. We will keep dogs for much longer than the eight days required, we will keep dogs for as long as it takes, to re-home then if we think it is re-homeable. Dr Andrew Tribe, North Melbourne Lost Dogs' Home "We want to throw our doors open to those rescue groups who are best placed to help us, with plans to appoint a dedicated rescue coordinator." Dr Tribe told 774 ABC Melbourne that the Lost Dog's Home took in more than 12,000 dogs per year in Melbourne, and had a euthanasia rate of 13 per cent. He said the organisation had a policy of taking in any animals. "We're not restricted, we don't restrict our intake to only animals that we think we can re-home, we believe that we have a responsibility to take in and look after any cat or dog that is brought into us, that is surrendered to us," Mr Tribe said. He defended the organisation's of the reported handling of the widow's dog, Fonzie. "In the case of Fonzie, where we held onto Fonzie for 10 days I think, because Fonzie was unidentified, unregistered, didn't have a tag or a microchip, so we couldn't contact the owner," he said. "I think the owner contacted us on the ninth day - just before we were closing I think it was a Sunday - and unfortunately couldn't come in to see if we had the dog, we didn't know we have their dog because it was unidentified. "Then by the time they did get in, the dog had been put down." Dr Tribe said the incident was a "lesson for all of us to register and identify our dogs better". He said the Lost Dogs' Home has a policy that any animal that is treatable or able to be re-homed will be. "We will keep dogs for much longer than the eight days required, we will keep dogs for as long as it takes, to re-home then if we think it is re-homeable," he said. Topics: animal-welfare, law-crime-and-justice, state-parliament, north-melbourne-3051 First posted about 3 hours agoThu 22 Jan 2015, 8:55am Print Email Facebook Twitter MoreMore stories from Victoria

It's hard isn't it, but you didn't let him down, Henry had a great life with you Kirty. And like VM said, birds will mask their illness.

Aww, sorry to hear about Saffys pregnancy, she has such a beautiful face. And Tiny scrubbed up rather well! Both of them are good doers, so chunky! Love Tinys face in the rolling photo

Fly free Henry, he certainly had a wonderful 7 months with you Kirty.

Merlin The poor little soul, 5 days without food/water, probably terrified and suffering burns as well. I hope he makes it.

I could eat that chocky pudding all up

Pretty devastating all round, I feel sad for the pets, and the owners of those pets. While I feel for the owners, I just wish they had been more proactive. I'm sure a lot of funding pages will be set up for the fires, most will be legit but some will be scams unfortunately

Aww, such devotion, I'm so happy they let him in, I thought the poor little dog was going to collapse or get hit by a car

Oh my word, look at that face!

:laugh: Being a puppy he might forget all about it, but you could take him to the groomers again (when he's better) and do some positive association (treat, pats, praise) and not actually get anything done. I think we need a pic of Lucca.

It could be that he was in pain with the ear infection, he got jabbed as well, then being at the groomers, probably a bit much in one day for a young pup. That would be my guess, seeing as its a one off thing.

I think Christmas time people are fairly busy with

Well isn't she just gorgeous, love the photo of her where it looks like she's smiling. She came through the surgery just fine, I think the hardest part is keeping them quiet for a few days. :laugh:

Baby Cirrus and Altair, I'm in love with both of them Andies are my favorite breed of horse, just beautiful.

Oh Scootaloo, thats so sad. Big warm hugs coming your way and run free Robo

I've got concrete and my dogs don't pee on it either, even if it's raining they go on the grass....if you are worried, train the dog to pee in one spot, lots of praise and have them on a lead, use a command word. Wouldn't take too long.

I can't advise on the pee post, but my two dogs pee outside wherever and I can't ever smell it, in all the years I've had dogs I've.never smelt it. Do you have a little courtyard or something?

I'm glad the session with Jane went well, and the situations not as bad as you thought it might be, bonus! I have a soft crate for my Staffy, she is perfectly fine with it, but for dogs who might scratch/paw/chew at them, a wire crate is better.