Animal shelter Renbury Farm to close down permanently after accusations of animal cruelty
EXCLUSIVE: A southwest Sydney animal shelter accused of neglect and cruelty will close down permanently and the land sold.
A SOUTHWEST Sydney animal shelter accused of neglect and cruelty will close down permanently.
Renbury Farm Animal Shelter made the internal announcement on Wednesday, one week after the Liverpool Leaderrevealed a campaign by animal rescuers to have the pound audited.
Reasons given for the closure were vague, but “urban development in the area” as well as “a few other factors” were stated in the announcement.
In a recent statement on its Facebook page, Renbury stated that the decision to close the shelter “has been on the table for an extremely long time” and has not been prompted as “a result of any online petitions or calls for an independent audit”.
The Austral shelter came under fire after an online petition calling for an audit went live late last month, attracting more than 8000 signatures to date.
It called on Liverpool, Fairfield, Camden and Bankstown councils, which fund the shelter, to order the audit.
Animal rescuer James Barone says he created the petition to call attention to alleged questionable practices at Renbury, including concerns over animals’ hygiene and the early euthanising of several healthy cats and kittens.
But Renbury’s chief executive Stephen Cole has denied all allegations of abuse and neglect, stating staff caught treating animals neglectfully were sacked.
Hundreds weighed in on the debate online to either defame or defend the shelter.
Shelter staff confirmed the 1.2ha property would eventually be put to auction.
The pound is expected to close its doors in about six months, with the shelter to run as usual in the meantime.
“It’s business as normal, nothing’s going to change,” Renbury manager Lorraine Barnes said.
She stated shelter management was waiting on Liverpool Council for instructions on how to proceed.
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