Narromine council closes pound after surge in surrendered pets
A ‘sad’ spike in the number of abandoned pets being dumped at animal shelters after Christmas has triggered an urgent plea for owners to lift their game and stop dumping animals.
Dubbo News
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A council in NSW’s central west has been forced to shut its animal shelter after a shocking surge in the number of animals being dumped left its staff unable to cope.
The Narromine Shire Council shelter, about 40 kilometres west of Dubbo, was closed on Tuesday after it became inundated with a large number of abandoned animals during the Christmas and New Year period.
Mayor Craig Davies said the move was a “sad” one council staff had deemed necessary in response to a “perennial problem”.
“If the pound is full there’s not much that council can do,” he said.
“There’s a limit on the number of animals that can be placed in a pound and once that limit is reached council basically has to close it because they would be in breach of regulations.”
“I’m sure there will be moves afoot to resolve the situation so that if some can be rehomed and rehomed quickly then potentially there might be room for others to come in and homes found for them also.”
Council staff were unavailable to provide comment on how many animals were abandoned and Mr Davies urged pet owners to take responsibility for the problem.
“At the end of the day, people need to take some responsibility for their own actions,” he said.
“For people who can’t commit, they need to think twice about whether an animal is going to fit into their lives and suit the lifestyles they live.
“Most of the animals are rehomed, particularly the dogs. I know there is a lady in Queensland who takes many of the dogs for rehoming.”
Janet Rose, the Animal Welfare League NSW Dubbo branch welfare officer, said Narromine was not the only council struggling to cope with the surge in abandonments.
“We’ve been contacted by people that have been told they’re not taking surrenders in Dubbo,” she told The Dubbo News.
A Dubbo Regional Council spokeswoman was unavailable to comment, however Mrs Rose said people were still dropping animals off in overnight pens outside the Dubbo shelter.
“In the last week that has become a lot greater in volume,” she said.
“We don’t have a shelter, all of our animals are with foster carers in their private homes so we’re very limited with the amount of animals we can take in.
“We do as much as we can and we try to work with the shelter in Dubbo by taking animals out of there because the reality is that as the shelter fills up and there’s more animals left in the overnight pens, there’s only one way of making room for the animals that are left in the overnight pens and that means animals have to be put down.”
Pet owners were largely responsible for the alarming amount of abandonments and council staff should not be blamed, Mrs Rose said.
“There’s still a problem with people breeding their pets thinking they’re going to make money out of them,” she said.
“They’ll let their pet dogs in particular, have a litter … then they find they’re not able to find people willing to buy the pets.
“It’s very upsetting.”
According to Mrs Rose, people procrastinating about desexing their pets or those who outright refuse, were contributing to the abandonment crisis.
“We have come across some people who are against desexing their animals,” she said.
“We hear from some people that it’s the cost of desexing that puts them off but we find that’s a little bit difficult to understand when they have multiple animals. If the cost issue is a consideration, we would rather them just have one pet instead of collecting a few and saying ‘we can’t afford to get them all desexed’.
“I know it’s an expense … we just don’t seem to be able to convince people it’s a once only expense for the animal’s life. There’s so many other health benefits by having the animals desexed as well, the cancer rate is reduced in both the males and the females … they live longer healthier lives.”
While many factors which led to the abandonment of animals could be avoided, Mrs Rose said sometimes there was no other option and those cases should be prioritised.
“It’s not always people just getting sick of their animal or those who can’t be bothered … there are genuine cases where people have no choice.
“A lot of the time people’s circumstances force them into a situation where they are no longer able to keep an animal.
“We have had elderly people who have had to go in a nursing home and their family has their quota of dogs. There’s nowhere for these animals to go.”
Mrs Rose said the impact of Covid on abandonment figures was unclear, however RSPCA spokeswoman Kieran Watson said there was no evidence of people abandoning unwanted pets given as Christmas gifts.
“From our experience, it is a myth that people are likely to surrender pets that were gifts after Christmas,” Mr Watson.
“The Christmas holiday season is an ideal time for people who are considering a pet to adopt. During this time people spend more time at home and can help their new pet settle into the family.”
According to Mr Watson, the RSPCA had not seen an “immediate jump” in the number of abandoned animals across NSW since Christmas.
The Animal Welfare League is looking for volunteers to help care for abandoned animals in the Dubbo region. Visit their Facebook page for more information.
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