Do Vets Send Found Dogs Straight To A Shelter?

[tikira]

This morning a puppy was found in Armidale. He was wearing two collars and was very friendly. The people who found him took him to a local vet surgery, where I am guessing a microchip was not found? ( :mad ). They left him in care of the vet surgery and advertised on the radio, saying he was safe at the vet clinic. I posted on Facebook and immediately someone who thinks the puppy is theirs responded- but the pup is now at the Animal shelter, and they cannot contact them.

My question here is - is this a standard practice for vets to immediately send them to a shelter? (I realise it costs them to house and feed them,so I am not having a go at the vet who did this), but is someone who finds a dog able to get the microchip checked and then leave contact info at vets and the shelter, and then look after the animal at their own house for a couple of days until the owner is found? or is this not allowed?

I am just curious, as the person who found the puppy thought the kindest option was to have a vet look after him, or they would have called the shelter immediately.

Di

[Loving my Oldies]

It depends on the Council. I know that Hornsby council has a few "staging" vets where dogs can be taken and kept there for a couple of days. Hornsby Council's pound is the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home at Kogara so it would be pretty silly to be taking dogs/cat/animals whenever they were found down to Kogara. So, yes, in some places the animals can stay at the vets for a few days.

And in some places, the pound is attached to a veterinary clinic.

[melzawelza]

In NSW people can't care for lost pets at their home. They have to 'as soon as possible' take them to the owner, the pound, or an approved premises (certain vets).

Vets who have applied to be an apprpved premises can keep the animal for up to 72 hours if they want to. After that it must go to the pound.

Vets who aren't approved premises need to contact Council straight away for the pet to be collected and taken to the pound.

Edited April 12, 2014 by melzawelza

[trifecta]

My local vet practice closes at 1.00pm on a Saturday. They wouldn't be holding a dog for which they wouldn't get paid over the weekend, so they would call the ranger to pick up before close of business if owner on microchip (if any) couldn't be contacted.

[OSoSwift]

The best place for found dogs to go is the pound, that is where people look for lost dogs.

If they are injured the vets of course is the best place.

People keeping them makes it harder for owners to find lost pets.

In our area we have a very small pound and sometimes they just don't have room as we have a fast growing town, so in some cases if you have the correct facilities they will allow you to keep them as long as they have a full description and photos.

Here our vets are not legally allowed to keep found dogs so if all is otherwise okay they go to the pound as soon as is possible.

At least the dog is safe - that is the most important thing!

[Dame Aussie]

In Vic the vets have to send the dog to the pound . Sometimes chip details are out of date and the pound is where owners will look. I argue with people who want to hold onto dogs all the time at work, people aren't going to find their dog in someone elses backyard.

Edited April 12, 2014 by Dame Aussie

[corrie]

I know this might not be a popular opinion but I think even if a dog is microchipped and handed in to a vet it should go to the council and dog at large fines applied.

[kelpiecuddles]

They are supposed to go to the pound. Only once has the ranger allowed me to hold a dog at my place. The pound was chockers and also closed for the weekend so the ranger came and took some photos and full details of the dog and let me care for her for a couple of days and took her to the pound after 72hours had gone by and she hadn't been contacted by anyone looking for the dog. It actually worked well as the ranger knew the dog was here and what it looked like if she got a call and we were able to put the word out as well. Sadly no one ever came looking for that dog but I'm told she got a great new home :)

[HazyWal]

My vets get a lot of dogs taken to them, some are repeat offenders and those will get taken straight to the pound, it's a vet not a boarding kennel for stupid people. For dogs that are chipped they will call the owners several times until they can get through if they can't and it's after pound hours they may keep them overnight and charge a fee when collected the next day, if still no contact it's pound. No chip or details out of date they go to the pound that day or first thing the next day. I don't think they have put them in the night cages but I'm not sure but I know they do everything possible to contact owners.

I am constantly argueing with people on my local lost and found facebook page that insist on keeping animals and trying to find the owners themselves as they think taking them to the pound the animal will be instantly PTS. They think every person in the world is on social media and by sharing some dodgy photo the owners will be found, as Aussie said you can't find your pet in someone's backyard.

Edited April 12, 2014 by HazyWal

[tikira]

Thanks all. agree with all that has been said, but wanted to know the "ins and outs" before I talk to the people who dropped the puppy into the vets. They are upset that they left him with this vet, and thought they should have left him with another vet or kept him until Monday morning, or until owner was found. (one post on Facebook was enough to locate them) Your comments will help them realise this is the best way, and they did the right thing, even if puppy is at the shelter for a couple of days ( the puppy owner cannot contact the pound, there is no answer)

Di

[HazyWal]

Thanks all. agree with all that has been said, but wanted to know the "ins and outs" before I talk to the people who dropped the puppy into the vets. They are upset that they left him with this vet, and thought they should have left him with another vet or kept him until Monday morning, or until owner was found. (one post on Facebook was enough to locate them) Your comments will help them realise this is the best way, and they did the right thing, even if puppy is at the shelter for a couple of days ( the puppy owner cannot contact the pound, there is no answer)

Di

Yes but as I said not everyone is on Facebook. They did the right thing IMO, yes legally I guess they could've kept the pup for 72 hours and found the owner on FB but they did the right thing thinking the pup would be chipped and took it to be scanned. At least now when the owners do collect it from the shelter it will be chipped.

[pepe001]

I found an old dog last year and took him to the vet to check for a microchip. None found. I rang the pound and said he was old and probably would have difficulties at the pound so they put him on their database and told me to keep him until an owner was found. But I do personally know the lady in charge so maybe that made a difference. Owner turned up a week later, at the pound and they called me and put us in touch. If I had left him there he may have been put-down as owners didn't start looking for over a week and I doubt he would have made it out of the pound alive.

But I do agree with others that lost dogs, if healthy, are better where the owners can find them.

[Rebanne]

I know this might not be a popular opinion but I think even if a dog is microchipped and handed in to a vet it should go to the council and dog at large fines applied.

totally agree.

[sandgrubber]

I know this might not be a popular opinion but I think even if a dog is microchipped and handed in to a vet it should go to the council and dog at large fines applied.

totally agree.

Large fines for repeat offenders. Slap on the wrist may be appropriate for first offenders. Sometimes it takes a first offense to diagnose a fencing problem. Eg, it may be a surprise when you discover your puppy can dig UNDER the expensive fence you put up.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I know this might not be a popular opinion but I think even if a dog is microchipped and handed in to a vet it should go to the council and dog at large fines applied.

I agree but it seems round here that people get there dogs back without paying any fines whatsoever. My neighbours have been serial offenders with 3 or 2 dogs over a period of more than 5 years, they deserve to be bankrupt.

There is a serial offender in a close suburb who thinks he's actually in outback Australia as his dog looks like Red Dog. This poor dog gets let out most days and crosses major roads. I was sitting having a coffee and saw the dog that can only have just crossed Pennant Hills Road - 6 lines of traffic, one of Sydney's busiest.

It's been going on for several years. This man doesn't deserve to have a dog and the dog has been hit by cars on numerous occasions.

It's a joke.

[corrie]

I know this might not be a popular opinion but I think even if a dog is microchipped and handed in to a vet it should go to the council and dog at large fines applied.

totally agree.

Large fines for repeat offenders. Slap on the wrist may be appropriate for first offenders. Sometimes it takes a first offense to diagnose a fencing problem. Eg, it may be a surprise when you discover your puppy can dig UNDER the expensive fence you put up.

I agree but as the owner of a thwarted escape artist I would rather cop a fine on the chin because this is where the real problem with dogs begins. There is so much focus on breed specific legislation that the much bigger issue is just sneaking past unnoticed.

It has to be made more financially advantageous for people to keep dogs contained to their property by means of hefty fines. For too long now people and dogs have been subject to attacks from loose dogs, put in danger on the roads and there is a culture out there that says that it is OK and among many it is just the done thing.

There needs to be a change in thinking.

[mixeduppup]

I have worked at a few vets who would call owners of notorious escape artists and just return them. I thought this was not on as it was not teaching the owners anything and putting the dog at risk. Every time I was on I would call the council straight away, after the 2nd time they suddenly decided to fix the fence and voila the dog doesn't get out anymore.

ETA: Some vets can be approved and keep dogs for up to 3 days but I think they still need to notify council they have the dog

Edited April 12, 2014 by mixeduppup

[Erny]

In Vic the vets have to send the dog to the pound . Sometimes chip details are out of date and the pound is where owners will look. I argue with people who want to hold onto dogs all the time at work, people aren't going to find their dog in someone elses backyard.

Did that law actually come in as specifically as that? I know that it was proposed, and many Vets quickly adopted it before it was law.

To those who feel it should be a matter of "go to pound for the sake of a fine against owners" -: I disagree that it should be a case of "straight to the pound". If the dog is chipped and owner can be easily found and contacted, the dog should be kept out of the shelter environment. It is less stressful to the dog that way. If it is recorded that it is a recurring incident, that's a different kettle of fish and the owners should then be held accountable. But sometimes 'things' out of owners' control does happen and I do not agree that it should be a strike against the owners for a rare or first time occurrence.

When Council Registration fees were introduced, the reasoning behind registration (that was given) was that your dog could be identified and returned to you (and/or they contacted you). The whole system has escalated to the point of stress for the dogs and money making value. I think we can find a reasonable middle road. Calgary has. Their model of laws work more 'hand-in-hand'. I'm sick of the "hit them quick, one way street" attitudes of Councils and of some people.

I have found a couple of dogs over the last while. Both (different) Vets confirmed that if the owners couldn't be contacted by end of day, yes, the dog would go to the pound. Once you walked into the Vet's, it was very much a hand and grab at the dog to take it over. The first Vet did find the owner via the chip and the dog was collected. Turned out the owners were away, and a friend was appointed to look after the dog. Not sure what happened to allow the dog to escape.

The other dog I found not far down from a Vet Clinic, so that was the first place I went. They scanned and came up with chip info. They would only tell me that the dog would go to the pound if owner not found before end of day or sooner. I found the owner (and it was very evident that it WAS the owner) a few doors down from the Vet's. Later I found out the Vet knew who the owner was as the dog was a client of theirs, but they had given me no indication of this earlier.

Edited April 12, 2014 by Erny

[corrie]

I know what you mean, Erny, and I know the way I put it sounds so inflexible. In reality I think it would be great if the dogs could be kept out of the pound and reunited with owners as quickly as possible but I still think their needs to be a fine so people don't just flippantly think "Oh naughty Rover got out again" (because it seems it is never the owners fault). It is stressful in the pound for a dog but it is stressful for a dog getting hit by a car, it is stressful for the person who hits it or the person trying to stop it running on the road.

[Erny]

I know what you mean too, Corrie. But I think it would be a very easy thing to register via the Microchip Register, a notation that the dog was at large and returned to owners. This record could appear to anyone authorised to scan and read the National Register. If it were at the very least a first time occurrence, I think people deserve a bit of a chance and to know there's a friendly, understanding and empathetic hand in society.

If a child was found wandering down the street and you knew where he lived and it was very unusual for this to occur (and perhaps had never occurred before), would you guide him back home or would you call DOCS to come pick him up and take him away from his home territory and made to wait until the parents phoned the right departments and found him? At most, I would call the police to explain I'd found a child (especially if he was far enough away from home to warrant driving him ..... I don't want to be found inadvertently guilty of kidnap or accused of some other related crime - that, and I think it's good if children are taught not to go with strangers anyway). The child would't be held to ransom for a fine. He would be returned to his parents. And there may have been something out of the usual that gave rise to something like that happening. If it was that this child was found wandering more frequently, the police would definitely have this on record and THEN perhaps DOCS would be called into the picture.

And what if you knew the dog and his owners? And to your knowledge escape was not a frequent occurrence? Perhaps it is your neighbour's dog? Working on the premise you purport, you would have this dog at the pound regardless. Even if the neighbours were also actually nice people.

Sometimes it's not about "blame". Sometimes we are just human. And sometimes things are out of our control, as much as we might work hard to cover all contingencies.

Edited April 12, 2014 by Erny