Renbury Farm Animal Shelter to stay open for two more years after council vote passes

An animal shelter will be kept running for the next two years after its closure was announced and the fate of the animals uncertain.

Renbury Farm will not close in December after all.

RENBURY Farm Animal Shelter will be kept running for the next two years by Liverpool Council.

During Wednesday’s meeting, councillors voted unanimously to keep the pound open via a two-year lease agreement with the current owner.

Renbury announced its closure in March amid accusations of animal neglect and an online petition calling for the shelter to be audited, which gained almost 9000 signatures.

While Renbury’s chief executive Stephen Cole denied all allegations of abuse and neglect, he stated the decision to close had nothing to do with the accusations and that the shelter would close by December and the land put up for auction.

There has been much speculation about what would happen to the animals once the shelter closed.

Resident Judith Carter spoke at Wednesday’s council meeting, demanding an update on what would happen to the sheltered animals once the pound closed.

Former Liverpool Council CEO Carl Wulff confirmed the new shelter would have a no-kill policy but his promise has been left in limbo since his resignation.

Councillor Peter Ristevski said he wanted to ensure that promise was fulfilled.

“The shelter will be running as now but I want to make sure there’s a no-kill policy and there was nothing in the (council) documents that mentioned that,” Cr Ristevski said.

Councillor Peter Ristevski will aim to ensure the shelter remains open with a no-kill policy.

“So what I’ll be doing is moving a motion to keep it a no-kill policy in the next council meeting.”

The Leader understands the pound will continue to cater to stray cats and dogs in Camden and Fairfield.

“At the end of the two years hopefully there’ll be a solution,” Cr Ristevski said. “We can’t afford to have it shut down as it’ll create a massive problem in Liverpool.”