Nothin' But A Pound Dog, But Now With A Great Future

[Adza]

Nothin' but a pound dog, but now with a great future

A PRIVATELY owned animal pound in Sydney is to become the first in the state to promise not to put any animals down, and to find homes for every healthy pet that comes through its doors.

The ambitious aim has been achieved by shelters elsewhere, said Tim Vasudeva, the manager of the Sydney Cats and Dogs Home in Carlton.

The Getting to Zero initiative, started by the Queensland Animal Welfare League, means pounds make a public commitment to finding homes for all the healthy, well-adjusted dogs and cats in their care.

Dangerous breeds, aggressive animals and feral cats cannot be found homes, so the best case scenario - as achieved by the league's Gold Coast shelter in Coombabah - is homes found for about 90 per cent of dogs and 75 per cent of cats.

Australia has an unacceptably high rate of dogs and cats being put down, animal rescue workers say, about 250,000 each year. But in Britain, which has almost three times the human population, the number is about 25,000 a year.

Mr Vasudeva said the difference was that Australia has ''puppy factories'' and backyard breeders who prosper because domestic animal legislation, which states outsource to cash-strapped councils, is weakly enforced.

Last month the RSPCA called for national regulations to stamp out puppy farming.

The Sydney Cats and Dogs Home, which takes in feral cats, stray dogs and surrendered pets from 11 council areas, has room for 150 animals.

It is only funded by councils to keep microchipped pets for a maximum of 14 days.

''It could be the world's best cat or dog, but we have to come up with the money to look after them if it takes six to eight weeks to re-home that animal,'' said Mr Vasudeva, a former banker who works as a full-time volunteer manager at the shelter.

''We should be able to give the animals that amount of time, but we need community support to do that.''

In partnership with the Queensland Animal Welfare League, the pound plans to expand its network of foster carers who look after dogs or cats until a permanent home is found. But it needs donations and more volunteers to walk the dogs and update the website to publicise the pets.

Kristina Vesk, from the Cat Protection Society, which is also participating in Getting to Zero initiative, said landlords and strata bodies can help by being pet-friendly. ''We have a lot of cats surrendered to us, very well cared for and loved, because in Sydney it can be so hard to find pet-friendly accommodation. That's really sad for the animals and the people.''

Link:

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/...0130-1a9q1.html\

I agree with this statement completely

Kristina Vesk, from the Cat Protection Society, which is also participating in Getting to Zero initiative, said landlords and strata bodies can help by being pet-friendly. ''We have a lot of cats surrendered to us, very well cared for and loved, because in Sydney it can be so hard to find pet-friendly accommodation. That's really sad for the animals and the people.''

Edited January 30, 2011 by Adza

[tobie]

I thought Sutherland Shire Council's Animal Shelter was No Kill and had been for years so this shelter will not be the first No Kill Shelter in Sydney.

Correct me if I am wrong.

[LizT]

I thought Sutherland Shire Council's Animal Shelter was No Kill and had been for years so this shelter will not be the first No Kill Shelter in Sydney.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Surely it can't be the first in Sydney!!! I thought that there would be a number of NO KILL Pounds already or is that only in the suburban areas and therefore not counted as Sydney?

[tobie]

I thought Sutherland Shire Council's Animal Shelter was No Kill and had been for years so this shelter will not be the first No Kill Shelter in Sydney.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Surely it can't be the first in Sydney!!! I thought that there would be a number of NO KILL Pounds already or is that only in the suburban areas and therefore not counted as Sydney?

City of Sydney Council have a contract with Sutherland Shire Animal Shelter so all there dogs and cats go there as well as all dogs and cats from the Sutherland Shire obviously going there too. I'm sure there must be other No Kill shelters around too but I can't think of any so if anyones knows please let us know.

I'm not sure why the article would be claiming they are the first in Sydney to be no kill

Thanks

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Sutherland is low kill not no kill.

[tobie]

Sutherland is low kill not no kill.

When did they change from No Kill to low kill because they claim that they are no kill on their website only destroying aggressive or sick animals. Obviously no animal shelter can really be no kill as you can not sell RB dogs, aggressive dogs or really sick dogs so they are as close to no kill as a shelter can possibly get. Unless this has changed and they now also kill healthy dogs with good temperaments .

[lappiemum]

while I applaud the sentiment, this is not a no-kill shelter. Temperament testing is a difficult thing - how an animal reacts in that environment can be seen as aggressive when they are really acting in fear. And the label of a dangerous breed - and how this is determined - is contentious, to say the least.

[Curlybert]

Tim Vasudeva is profiled in today's 'Good Weekend' - the magazine liftout in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. Sounds like a top bloke!