Griffith Pound

[keetamouse]

This is interesting and thought we all need to be aware of what is happening at Griffith re: future dogs. Just in case the link doesn't work here is the article.

http://www.areanews.com.au/story/1924123/dog-death-sentence/?cs=670

A VITAL animal rescue service has refused to re-home any more pets from the Griffith Pound until council drastically improves conditions at the facility.

Unsealed concrete, bare dirt and a "chute" that people dump their dogs down have allowed the potentially fatal parvo virus to run rampant through the pound, and Ken Rebetzke from Needy Paws has had enough.

In the 18 months it has been operating, Needy Paws has rescued at least 500 dogs and cats from the Griffith Pound and re-homed them across Australia.

Without the vital service, Mr Rebetzke said it is likely every animal dumped at the pound – that is not claimed – will be put down.

The cost of treating a parvo-infected dog, plus the service’s standard vaccination and desexing costs, is simply too much for Needy Paws to bear, with each infected dog carrying the burden of a $1000-plus vet bill.

Mr Rebetzke has also struggled to place the infected animals with his carers, who cannot take a risk with the highly contagious disease.

“The main problem for us is the unwanted dog chute – as soon as one infected dog goes down there, they all get it,” Mr Rebetzke said.

“And the fact that the concrete is unsealed – they can disinfect all they like but the disease stays in there.”

Griffith City Council will undertake a review of the pound facilities after Councillor Alison Balind moved a motion at last week’s meeting, which was passed.

The review will investigate operations including animal intake, re-homing and accommodation, as well as the possibility of subsiding de-sexing costs for locals and alternatives for operating the facility.

Cr Balind said the motion was a response to community concerns about conditions at the pound.

“The pound is not the greatest place in the world but at the same time, I understand council has a lot of competing priorities,” Cr Balind said.

“The people in the community who just dump their dogs there are the real issue.

“People need to take more responsibility for their animals because the reality is, if Needy Paws aren’t going to rehome them, they’re going to be euthanised.”

Mr Rebetzke said he will only consider resuming services to the Griffith Pound if the basic conditions – the chute, the concrete and the bare dirt - are addressed.

Manager of executive services at council, Shireen Donaldson, said if councillors determined the pound was in urgent need of an upgrade, money could be allocated from another project otherwise it would have to wait until next year’s budget.

In the mean time, people who are looking to adopt a dog from the pound will still be able to do so.

[keetamouse]

BUMPING

[tdierikx]

I'd say many country pound facilities would be similar, yes? Understaffed, under-resourced, underfunded... and animal management isn' high on the list of things to spend money on.

Ultimatums like the one above may just have the result of council deciding that destroying the animals that are sick or have reached the end of their impound time is simply easier than dealing with rescue...

T.

[_PL_]

Yep T. x2

Without the vital service, Mr Rebetzke said it is likely every animal dumped at the pound – that is not claimed – will be put down.

Is this a paraphrase kenreb? What about all the other rescues who were quietly working with Griffith for years and years.......

[Loreley]

it could however, open the door for RSPCA or similar org to setup shop in the area and take over as an outsourced arrangement like a lot of areas in the rural districts have. In theory better resourced?

[tdierikx]

In all honesty, the rescues that work quietly and well with pounds rarely get any recognition... but they should, for without those fore-runners, groups like Needy Paws would never have even gotten their foot in the door.

It can be counter-productive to make public ultimatums like the one above - and, as Powerlegs has pointed out, many other groups have worked with Griffith Pound for years, then public ultimatums may very well screw it up for ALL rescue who want to work with that pound...

T.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Well I hope to God that NeedyPaws have had a thorough quarantine practice happening with the dogs they took out so that it didn't spread the Parvo further within the community.

If they didn't then their own home plus any foster homes (not sure how many are involved, maybe it's just Ken) will be contaminated for years to come.

[lillypilly]

I am sure another solution could have been found by Mr Rebetzke in preference to running to the media.

Perhaps Mr Rebetzke could offer to have the anonymous surrenders and after hours strays delivered directly to him.

xx LP xx

[Little Gifts]

I have seen people power at work on many occassions and if this article gets rate payers up in arms with their local councillors and mayor then change may actually occur. Without some civil unrest Mr Rebetzke may as well have saved his breath.

[kenreb]

Needy Paws does not to justify it actions or decision to anyone and people who are ill informed would do well from making comment. We acted on the advice of our vets who were alarmed to say the least at the amount of parvo infected dogs coming from Griffith Pound that we were asking them to treat. If CPR and the groups who work quietly behind the scenes take dogs from Griffith Pound why it was that Needy Paws was left with the staffy crosses, the brindles, the big and the ugly? Anyone can rehome a fluffy. We are a highly successful group with many generous supporters Australia wide and we really do not care what anyone else thinks.

There are four very hard dogs at Griffith Pound right now – let’s see who takes them. Need I say more – let’s see who backs themselves up with action. Where were you a few weeks ago when 5 large dogs were killed because none of you put your hands up and we had no room. Where were the groups who work quietly behind the scenes then?

[_PL_]

Could you be any more defensive and nasty? More insulting? To those who ask questions or have seen rescue groups destroy relationships with pounds by going to the press and FB.

Groups who can, do take their share of these 'big and ugly' dogs and as you have found, they don't get adopted as fast as they come in. Which is why you are full. And why other groups are full or god forbid, taking dogs from their own local pounds.

You also seem to have a huge chip on your shoulder about not being able to empty your pound every week, as if everyone else is fine with dogs PTS and everyone else is sitting around doing nothing.

BTW Fluffies get parvo the same as large dogs. But yeh, you're right, they're all so much easier to rehome after you deal with their foul teeth, patellas, hernias, moldy skin from matts, they're a goldmine and so easy. How about you put your name on all of them then.

Edited November 27, 2013 by Powerlegs

[tdierikx]

Needy Paws does not to justify it actions or decision to anyone and people who are ill informed would do well from making comment. We acted on the advice of our vets who were alarmed to say the least at the amount of parvo infected dogs coming from Griffith Pound that we were asking them to treat. If CPR and the groups who work quietly behind the scenes take dogs from Griffith Pound why it was that Needy Paws was left with the staffy crosses, the brindles, the big and the ugly? Anyone can rehome a fluffy. We are a highly successful group with many generous supporters Australia wide and we really do not care what anyone else thinks.

There are four very hard dogs at Griffith Pound right now – let’s see who takes them. Need I say more – let’s see who backs themselves up with action. Where were you a few weeks ago when 5 large dogs were killed because none of you put your hands up and we had no room. Where were the groups who work quietly behind the scenes then?

Your vets should have acted themselves if they were so concerned about the rate of parvo infected dogs emerging from Griffith Pound... I'd say that a letter from a vet to Council mamagement on the parvo issue might have a bigger impact than a rescue group crying foul to the press and pointing the finger at the staff who have to deal with it probably even moreso than you do, and under much tighter budgets may I add...

Quite a few groups had been rescuing from Griffith pound quite successfully begore Needy Paws (and yourself) decided that they'd jump onto the bandwagon and declare yourselves the be all and end all for needies in Griffith Pound. what you fail to see as a possible consequence of your attention seeking stampede to the media is that Council might just turn around and refuse to work with rescue at all - as has happened at more than one pound after ultimatums have been handed down by a rescue "rogue" (which is how you will be perceived by those on the receiving end of your media jaunt, by the way).

Declaring yourself/Needy Paws as the only hope for ALL Griffith poundies is also a bit rich, don't you think? Not acknowledging ANY of the other rescues who regularly take from Griffith, but attempting to take all credit for ALL dogs taken is a bit of a stretch from where a lot of us stand. Did you even bother to talk to any of the other rescues involved before running off to the media to make yourself out to be some sort of rescue hero?

As for the 4 "very hard" dogs at Griffith Pound right now... well - with your excellent media spotlight on the high rate of parvo there - I'd say most would be very leery of taking ANYTHING from there at all right now...

But then, you "really do not care what anyone else thinks", so we'll leave the job to you then, yes?

T.

[keetamouse]

Needy Paws does not to justify it actions or decision to anyone and people who are ill informed would do well from making comment. We acted on the advice of our vets who were alarmed to say the least at the amount of parvo infected dogs coming from Griffith Pound that we were asking them to treat. If CPR and the groups who work quietly behind the scenes take dogs from Griffith Pound why it was that Needy Paws was left with the staffy crosses, the brindles, the big and the ugly? Anyone can rehome a fluffy. We are a highly successful group with many generous supporters Australia wide and we really do not care what anyone else thinks.

There are four very hard dogs at Griffith Pound right now – let’s see who takes them. Need I say more – let’s see who backs themselves up with action. Where were you a few weeks ago when 5 large dogs were killed because none of you put your hands up and we had no room. Where were the groups who work quietly behind the scenes then?

Nobody said you had to justify your actions where did you read that!!!!!CPR and others haven't been taking dogs from Griffith on the quiet so where did you get that from as well!!!!!you never wanted to work with other groups Ken or communicate with any of us, you wanted to go it alone and now you come back at us and say where were we a couple of weeks ago when there were 5 large dogs that were put to sleep, well it is plain to see where we all were, having been told to buggar off 18 months ago.

Rescue is not about saving them all and none of us are able to take "hard dogs" and "big dogs" at that, we know what we can take and what we can't also perfectly healthy dogs would then be put to sleep if we all start taking ones that are hard and overlooking the others, this is not rescue.....

You saying that you are one of the most successful rescue groups in Australia means nothing when you have nothing to compare it to as you can't compare yourself with any other group, you are alone, all alone and you wanted it that way from the beginning, you have said that you have saved over 500 dogs in the 18 months you have been going which can't possibly be right, Griffith Pound wouldn't have had 500 dogs go through the pound in that time, going by Pet Rescue stats it is around 200, some months back you had listed on FB that it was 1700

You also made it clear from the beginning that you would take every thing from Griffith so that's why we all backed off and started helping a lot more pounds so don't start with the comment " where have you all been when dogs have died because you were full" the reason I take the smalls is because that's what I take, I live in a bloody townhouse how the hell could I take the big dogs, I can't handle big dogs and most people in rescue don't mix big with small, people take what they can handle and what they are comfortable having in their homes, we don't have the luxury of having acreage.

Maybe you could have worked with Council and with Council approval started an appeal in the Griffith area asking if the community could come to the party and donate their time and money to help with some of the work needed to at the least get some of the pens refurbished and up to scratch.

As I said most of the dogs that you took may not have got parvo in the pound they brought it in, would be interested in knowing how long after they came out did they come down with it, I also believe the more dogs you have in your own yard and if you have a lot of grass and they are all running around together is a disaster waiting to happen and the percentages go up of a dog bringing it in and infecting the whole yard, if you don't have quarantine set up it is a disaster waiting to happen. I wonder how many of the dogs that were adopted from the pound and went to new homes how many of them got parvo, that would be interesting to know, the vets would know that anyway.

I responded to the article you did to inform the Griffith community that the dogs would not be abandoned and some will make it out, you forget Ken that there were a lot of us taking from Griffith for many years before you took over from Cheryl who started Needy Paws by the way, things would have been very different for many of the dogs that did not make it, had you come on board and worked with us all, in the true spirit of what rescue is all about, all working together and helping each other and trying to save the many who are rehomable.

Taking me off your FB page just demonstrates that you don't want anyone in your area to know anything about your behaviour in the past and how you have treated all of us and shut us out of the Griffith area.

You turned your back on all of us remember you are solely responsible for what is going on in "your" pound, all of us will now step up to the plate and pick up the pieces.

Maree

CPR

Edited November 27, 2013 by keetamouse

[Nic.B]

God When does it stop?

Whoever you are (and I dont care who you are) small breed rescue is every much as important as medium and large breed rescue. I know that for a fact.

Also, please dont tell me you are involved with Melanie Norman. You appear to sprout the same crap, back yourself up with false figures, state you are the be all and end all of rescue and even better still when you dont get what you make threats.

Anna and Marree you have taken an endless number of smalls who had absolutely no hope at all. Sight unseen and often with medical issues.

As long as sh*t like this is involved in rescue the animals will suffer. Glory whores, if ONLY they could put the animals before their own ego's. That is all.

[Nic.B]

Needy Paws does not to justify it actions or decision to anyone and people who are ill informed would do well from making comment.

[Nic.B]

Quote 'We acted on the advice of our vets who were alarmed to say the least at the amount of parvo infected dogs coming from Griffith Pound that we were asking them to treat."

What are your transport and quarentine policies? Your vet would ALSO be very interested in that I am sure.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Nic.B

[keetamouse]

Double post

Edited November 28, 2013 by keetamouse

[keetamouse]

This is from Kens Needy Paws FB page yesterday and I can't for the life of me understand how a "well respected rescue group in Australia" can sign the death certificate for many of the healthy dogs who have or may have a vaccination history to let them die because "one of the most respected rescue groups in Australia" made a conscious decision to let them all die because he wants the Griffith Council to change the way they run their pound "immediately"

This is from Needy Paws FB page written yesterday:

We are simply appalled by comments made in the Area News and on 2RG today by Canberra Pooch Rescue. It is beyond our comprehension as to why another rescue group would undermine our attempts to have overall conditions at Griffith Pound improved for the long term well being of the animals. What they failed to say is that CPR only takes cute, small and preferably fluffy – where were the other groups 2 weeks ago when 5 large dogs were killed because no one would take them and Needy Paws had no room. We take dogs regardless of age, colour or breed provided they are not aggressive. We are not interested in quick turnover. Council will now be left thinking that other groups will take the dogs now that Needy Paws is not so there is no need to do anything. While these comments have weakened our cause and it has not weakened our resolve. If Canberra Pooch and other groups are now going to take ALL dogs good luck to them – I can tell you it will not happen.

I wasn't on 2RG which I take is the local radio station thanks very much Kenny, I never spoke to them, I just sent the email to Leah who ran the original story.

No one said we would be taking ALL the dogs, bloody hell man what are you on :laugh: you are reading things that aren't there :laugh:

And this from one of NP supporters

Wow, you would think they would work with you to stop the parvo. You do a great job, even when the odds are against you. Like you, I don't understand why they would undermine you. Did the media give you an opportunity to comment? You probably don't want to stoop to their level anyway. Keep up the good work, don't let people like this put you off.

and this one:

Needy Paws Dog Rescue Griffith NSW No we were not given an opportunity to comment - one would think that a so called rescue group would want to stop the spread of parvo and would be prepared to take some tough decisions to do so - all they are doing is helping spread the disease - we know that when you take a pound dog there is a risk that it will have parvo - but we want better conditions to allow for better control. Ken

Of course we all want the parvo to stop which is a separate issue to letting healthy dogs die just to make a bloody point.

None of us are prepared to let healthy dogs die just to make that bloody point, a tough decision, no, it isn't a tough decision to get the dogs out to at least give them a chance to be treated for the parvo, and it is a bloody BIG IF, that they have it more so than they don't it is a great high to get a dog out treat it if needed and see it survive and go to a great home that bloody well out weighs " trying to change things, at the poor dogs expense.

I rest my case

Maree

[tdierikx]

Of the dogs taken from Griffith by other groups recently... how many have had parvo?

Maree, have you had any from Griffith in the past few months that have had parvo?

Kenreb is making claims that high numbers of dogs his group are taking from there have parvo and then need expensive vet treatment - is this happening with dogs taken by other groups?

It could well be that the pound's sanitary conditions, while not perfect, might not be the source of the disease...

Wouldn't it be ironic if the issue of dogs becoming sick was actually the result of a particular rescue group's transport and quarantine (or lack thereof) processes?

T.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Ken is one of those rescuers with a giant ego, we see a lot of it these days.

They appear, act like they are the ones that know better and do the best job and then they disappear because it turns out that it's bloody hard to rescue.

And no matter how many dogs you take - you can NEVER take them all Ken.

Stop attacking other rescue groups who are responsibly rescuing the dogs that they can - that is the trick to it. Don't over commit, don't take what you can't manage.