Rspca Call For Foster Carers

[Steve]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/sunday-...f-1225846369955

HUNDREDS of dogs seized from a puppy farm last year have been voluntarily surrendered by a couple facing animal cruelty charges. While 244 dogs were seized in a raid on a puppy farm at Wondai, in the South Burnett area, some have since given birth to 170 pups.

It has created the biggest fostering exercise in the state RSPCA's history.

Before Ruth and Ken Schloss last week agreed to surrender the 244 original dogs, and the pups, they could not be desexed or adopted out.

The agreement now gives the go-ahead for the RSPCA to start the process of finding new homes for all the dogs that include a variety of breeds.

"Special needs" foster homes have been found for 317 out of 414 dogs and newborn pups, but the RSPCA still needs to find foster homes for 97 young dogs, while adoption is being organised.

Care of the animals has been costing almost $5000 a day, at an estimated cost of $12 a dog each day, with foster parents being provided with dog food and any necessary veterinary treatment.

The 244 dogs were seized from the breeders after a three-day operation in September by Biosecurity Queensland.

On Tuesday, Ruth and Ken Schloss were charged in Murgon Magistrates Court with animal cruelty and breaching their duty of care to the dogs.

Ruth Schloss also was charged with failure to comply with an animal welfare direction by Biosecurity Queensland.

The case will be mentioned in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on April 9.

Before the dogs were sent to foster homes, careful security checks had to be made to ensure there was no chance of any of them getting pregnant.

Some of the seized dogs initially had ear, eye and other problems.

RSPCA Fairfield shelter manager Nanda Ten Grotenhuis said veterinary behaviourists were consulted before the dogs were fostered out.

Foster families had to undergo training and those who already had their own dogs had to bring them to the shelter to see how they would react to the dogs being fostered.

Ms Ten Grotenhuis said while mother dogs and their litters initially were fostered out together for the first six weeks, they then had to be brought back to the shelter, weaned, separated and re-fostered.

Different foster homes then needed to be found for the mother and each pup in a litter.

One staffordshire bull terrier from Wondai had 11 pups.

Biosecurity Queensland has contributed to the cost of care of the Wondai dogs and new pups.

Anyone who wants to foster a dog should contact the RSPCA at www.rspcaqld.org.au.

[WreckitWhippet]

Ms Ten Grotenhuis said while mother dogs and their litters initially were fostered out together for the first six weeks, they then had to be brought back to the shelter, weaned, separated and re-fostered.

Another tick in the idiot box, for the RSPCA.

Dear Dog, how hard is it to wean a litter and then send them directly to individual forster care when they are ready to leave at 8-10 weeks.

[Kirty]

I suspect they would also be desexed at this point though, perhaps thats why they have to come back.

What a mammoth operation. It sounds like the RSPCA is actually working really hard to care for ALL of these dogs.

[~Anne~]

I suspect they would also be desexed at this point though, perhaps thats why they have to come back.

What a mammoth operation. It sounds like the RSPCA is actually working really hard to care for ALL of these dogs.

Yes, and that is how they foster the kittens as well. They are sent out to carers and are brought back in for desexing. Sometimes they are then sent back out with carers, usually different ones, as the original ones will have taken on board new infants.

[Kissindra]

nope, when it involves seized animals that are part of an ongoing court case it has nothing to do with de-sexing - they CANNOT be desexed in this situation, the RSPCA does not own them, they remain entire until such time as the previous owner signs them over or a court orders that the RSPCA have ownership of them. It makes it an extra challenge to place them well in foster care.

That said - all the article says is that they are in foster together for the first 6 weeks before coming back to be weaned and seperated - this does not provide enough information to say for sure that they don't stay at the shelter for at least two weeks before going out again to foster care - if you'd like to find out for sure contact the RSPCA with your question.

In any case - big time happy tears in this household, cause our foster gal never has to go back there and wont be used again as a breeding machine :laugh:

[WreckitWhippet]

I'm more concerned that they take a litter of puppies from a foster home and what would be a relatively safe environment in terms of disease and exposure and place them back in a shelter, while they wean them.

Maternal anitbodies have started to decrease and they are at a vulnerable age in terms of disease and also it's a critical time for socialisation, learning from the bitch and exposure to house hold noises etc.

[Kissindra]

Fairfield is not your standard pound/shelter as most people think of them. They are and were able to keep seizure dogs away from other impounded or for sale animals by dint of being a large facility with numerous kennel set ups and buildings.

You'd have to enquire as to what the rational is behind bringing them in, I'd find it hard to conclude it's a case of ignorance of socialisation periods and immune systems given the number of qualified behaviourists and vets on staff so I would think there is some other factors.

[Cody]

I wonder if it was also brought to the courts attention they were still selling animals while court proceedings were taking place

[Alyosha]

I think the gist of the update was that the couple have actually surrendered the dogs so all of them are now the property of the RSPCA. Once they have been legally surrendered they can be desexed and adopted etc.

[~Anne~]

nope, when it involves seized animals that are part of an ongoing court case it has nothing to do with de-sexing - they CANNOT be desexed in this situation, the RSPCA does not own them, they remain entire until such time as the previous owner signs them over or a court orders that the RSPCA have ownership of them. It makes it an extra challenge to place them well in foster care.

That said - all the article says is that they are in foster together for the first 6 weeks before coming back to be weaned and seperated - this does not provide enough information to say for sure that they don't stay at the shelter for at least two weeks before going out again to foster care - if you'd like to find out for sure contact the RSPCA with your question.

In any case - big time happy tears in this household, cause our foster gal never has to go back there and wont be used again as a breeding machine ;)

They were surrendered, not seized. Perhpas seized intially, but it appears the puppy farmers decided not to fight it.

Edited March 28, 2010 by ~Anne~

[Kissindra]

nope, when it involves seized animals that are part of an ongoing court case it has nothing to do with de-sexing - they CANNOT be desexed in this situation, the RSPCA does not own them, they remain entire until such time as the previous owner signs them over or a court orders that the RSPCA have ownership of them. It makes it an extra challenge to place them well in foster care.

That said - all the article says is that they are in foster together for the first 6 weeks before coming back to be weaned and seperated - this does not provide enough information to say for sure that they don't stay at the shelter for at least two weeks before going out again to foster care - if you'd like to find out for sure contact the RSPCA with your question.

In any case - big time happy tears in this household, cause our foster gal never has to go back there and wont be used again as a breeding machine

They were surrendered, not seized. Perhpas seized intially, but it appears the puppy farmers decided not to fight it.

They were siezed back in September last year, and the owners agreed to surrender only this past week. The dogs have been in foster care around 6 months during which time they were still legally owned by the Schloss's and the RSPCA were not able to de-sex. My reply was to the query of if part of the reason mums and pups were brought back in to the shelter during that 6 month period (as mentioned in the article) for weaning had anything to do with de-sexing being done at that time, which is not the case.

Edited March 28, 2010 by Kissindra

[Bilbo Baggins]

The sheer numbers are astounding. ;)

[Rebanne]

if they were seized in September how come they still have such young pups?

[WreckitWhippet]

if they were seized in September how come they still have such young pups?

Doesn't add up does it.

[iffykharma]

if they were seized in September how come they still have such young pups?

Doesn't add up does it.

The article doesn't say anywhere how old the puppies are. It doesn't say anything about puppies still having to be weaned. It just describes what the process is to demonstrate how many foster homes have been required.

ETA The issue really is the number of adult dogs still being housed in the shelter - that they would like to get out into foster homes. Even if they can now be desexed and put up for adoption, they will do much better and be in better condition mentally and physically if they have an opportunity to get out of the shelter and into foster for a period of time.

Edited March 30, 2010 by iffykharma

[Steve]

The concept of anyone having that many dogs is just mind blowing.

As Ive said before atending that seminar at Monash Uni where a commercial farmer was given the opportunity to explain what a breeder of that size does it completely changed my mindset on puppy farming.

Until then the term had been used in the main to talk about a breeder who didnt show or compete in some dog related activity, or about a breeder someone else didnt like or about a breeder who had more than one or two litters a year.

But when you know some people are actually owning up to 1000 dogs and pumping out puppies in the thousands

and still try to say the dogs are well looked after, that they are well socialised and loved makes me want to cry.

I dont believe the system presented by the RSPCA is the answer but its time we, as dog lovers really took a step back and

ask how we ever got to a point in this country where breeding dogs for nothing more than profit became a legitimate way of earning a living and tried to look at the current system to work out what we can do to protect the dogs but also to protect the rights of the owners even if we dont agree [ and I dont] with the way they go about making a living.

[Guest Ams]

Just for clarity I understand the dogs have been surrendered to DPI. The dogs are not yet the property of the RSPCA this may happen quickly or may take some time. All depends on lawyers.

Also puppies are not necessarily kept at the shelter for weaning, they are removed from the foster home where the mother is and placed in separate homes for the weaning process, every opportunity is taken to ensure these puppies do not remain at the shelter. Puppies are only at the shelter if a suitable foster home is not available. To my knowledge apart from those whelped within the appropriate time frame after seizure there are no other "young pups" from Wondai seizure.

The jurisdiction for these dogs belongs to DPI and RSPCA is simply assisting them. RSPCA did not seize them the DPI did, RSPCA has housed and fed and provided vetwork for them with remuneration to come from DPI at some point.

The influx of this number of dogs on any shelter would be phenomonal (sp). I personally know that staff and volunteers were working 12 - 16 hour days to make sure these animals were given all appropriate treatments, etc. Two staff are required just to coordinate the foster programme and ensure dogs on foster receive their treatments, etc on time and support given to carers. If and when the dogs become RSPCA property then the mad house will start again as dogs are brought back in for desex and rehoming.

The Manager of the shelter is there almost EVERY day, she cleans pens, washes dogs, does treatments and still has to run the entire shelter as well.

This seizure has sucked the life out of a lot of the animal attendants at the shelter. Prior to these dogs coming in staff were bright, happy and bubbly. They are now tired, over worked and still turn up everyday to provide the best care they can for these and all the other animals that come into the shelter.

I am neither pro nor anti RSPCA. I volunteer for them and I foster for them. I run my own breed specific rescue and know that in Qld the RSPCA works very well with breed rescue groups to get animals out and into other rehoming opportunities. I acknowledge and understand this is not necessarily the case in other States. I do not agree with all the RSPCA does but am sometimes a little disappointed at the negativity aimed at the group. Remember the staff are people too, they earn very little money for a very hard physical job done in rain, hail or shine.

Donning suit now.

[iffykharma]

Just for clarity I understand the dogs have been surrendered to DPI. The dogs are not yet the property of the RSPCA this may happen quickly or may take some time. All depends on lawyers.

Also puppies are not necessarily kept at the shelter for weaning, they are removed from the foster home where the mother is and placed in separate homes for the weaning process, every opportunity is taken to ensure these puppies do not remain at the shelter. Puppies are only at the shelter if a suitable foster home is not available. To my knowledge apart from those whelped within the appropriate time frame after seizure there are no other "young pups" from Wondai seizure.

The jurisdiction for these dogs belongs to DPI and RSPCA is simply assisting them. RSPCA did not seize them the DPI did, RSPCA has housed and fed and provided vetwork for them with remuneration to come from DPI at some point.

The influx of this number of dogs on any shelter would be phenomonal (sp). I personally know that staff and volunteers were working 12 - 16 hour days to make sure these animals were given all appropriate treatments, etc. Two staff are required just to coordinate the foster programme and ensure dogs on foster receive their treatments, etc on time and support given to carers. If and when the dogs become RSPCA property then the mad house will start again as dogs are brought back in for desex and rehoming.

The Manager of the shelter is there almost EVERY day, she cleans pens, washes dogs, does treatments and still has to run the entire shelter as well.

This seizure has sucked the life out of a lot of the animal attendants at the shelter. Prior to these dogs coming in staff were bright, happy and bubbly. They are now tired, over worked and still turn up everyday to provide the best care they can for these and all the other animals that come into the shelter.

I am neither pro nor anti RSPCA. I volunteer for them and I foster for them. I run my own breed specific rescue and know that in Qld the RSPCA works very well with breed rescue groups to get animals out and into other rehoming opportunities. I acknowledge and understand this is not necessarily the case in other States. I do not agree with all the RSPCA does but am sometimes a little disappointed at the negativity aimed at the group. Remember the staff are people too, they earn very little money for a very hard physical job done in rain, hail or shine.

Donning suit now.

Thanks for posting Ams - very well said. I've only had a very small amount to do with the Wondai dogs - I've helped out with grooming the puppies and adults a few times - those residing in the shelter and those on foster who are brought back to the shelter specifically for grooming, which is all done by volunteers, a few of whom are there twice a week, every week to try and keep up with demand.

[Loving my Oldies]

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;#entry4432033

I've linked your thread here, IK. As you say, it shows why the RSPCA in Queensland (a very different organisation from the one in NSW) needs help with foster carers.

[Wajoma's Aussies]

one of the ladies I work with adopted a lovely 6 yr old gold/white Cocker Spaniel girl from this seizure ... she's in a lovely and loving home, and she'll be well cared for, for the remainder of her days...

a happy ending for at least one of these poor dogs ...