A pound in the news today.

time lord

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/dog-killed-in-savage-attack-in-council-shelter-353832.html
(Sad/ distressing article warning)

The article is a bit short on detail but should raise some valid debate. Before pro portioning blame I think sometimes it lies in more than one quarter and it's too easy to blame it all on the dog owner or the pound/local authority. For me the worst part is that there is always a chance of it happening again with the same conditions in place.

http://shr.gs/Odx4ryg

ShaShaBear

time lord wrote: »

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/dog-killed-in-savage-attack-in-council-shelter-353832.html
(Sad/ distressing article warning)

The article is a bit short on detail but should raise some valid debate. Before pro portioning blame I think sometimes it lies in more than one quarter and it's too easy to blame it all on the dog owner or the pound/local authority. For me the worst part is that there is always a chance of it happening again with the same conditions in place.

http://shr.gs/Odx4ryg

As I had said on the topic on Facebook, the dog was only 2 years old. People are more than well-informed at this stage on the importance of having lawful and visible identification on your dog at all times. Had he been microchipped and registered, he would have been returned to his owners without issue. The page the owner contacted was a voluntarily run Facebook page, not the pound itself from what I understand.
I can't imagine there is a single pound in Ireland that is large enough to accommodate singular containment areas for every dog that comes in and has to stay up to 5 days - eventually they are either going to have to put the whole lot to sleep to make room for more, or some dogs will have to be housed together. If what the warden says is true and the dogs did indeed mix well for a whole day and night prior to the incident, it would be unfair to assume he is to blame for what happened. They are not usually well-staffed premises and I can't imagine they can be safely collecting lost and stray dogs from the street, checking for licences, responding to concerns of animal cruelty as well as 24-hour monitoring of all the dogs that have ended up in the pound due to negligence of their owners/ex-owners (and again, I express utter sympathy that the owners needed to learn of this, but had they taken all the easily accessed precautions for such a well-loved dog, he would have been back in their house Friday evening once he was found).

themissymoo

That's terribly sad. I'd be devastated if such a thing happened to my own, but this is why they're microchipped. Our youngest actually came microchipped and we had the details on her chip changed once we got her. It's horrible to say, but the family should have taken the necessary precautions to ensure that the dog could be reunited with them if it was lost. Dogs run away every day, so it's hardly unheard of or uncommon. The poor pup though, having such a horrible death like that.

Knine

I saw this earlier & had a look at the owners Facebook page & it was very clear the dog was allowed out to wander all the time. In fact it was mentioned that when she got him back she hoped he would learn his lesson & not wander again.

I have terrible sympathy for the poor dog but it all could have been prevented by looking after him properly.

ShaShaBear

Knine wrote: »

I saw this earlier & had a look at the owners Facebook page & it was very clear the dog was allowed out to wander all the time. In fact it was mentioned that when she got him back she hoped he would learn his lesson & not wander again.

I have terrible sympathy for the poor dog but it all could have been prevented by looking after him properly.

She is also insisting that she requested he be microchipped when she was having him vaccinated, but the vet/nurse told her it was not necessary. I cannot for the life of me believe for one second that any nurse/vet was under the impression that chipping was not needed a maximum of 2 years ago.

tk123

I feel sad for the poor dog and what happened to him but at the same time anyone can see her on FB she's laughing and joking about it and it was obviously a regular occurance. What if he had of caused an accident? My two are chipped and never without a tag even in the house - if their collar is off say to let their necks dry I have mesh harnesses with tags on them, spare collars with tags on them etc

strandroad

The dog should have been chipped or at least have a tag, and not be allowed to wander. He could be run over or stolen every time they had him out on his own.

Re the pound, it could happen to a chipped/tagged dog too, but I would not place any blame on the staff if they assessed these dogs as they said. It's the system, and the system should be lobbied against. The staff there seem to be doing a great job, as evidenced by someone offering to meet the owner on a Saturday.

tk123

Funny as well her FB (which is public wtf?!) is full of videos and pictures of horses...the only pics of the dog are the when he's missing, found and the link above. Myself and anyone I'm friends with on FB always have pics of their dogs up?

They want it investigated which is fair enough but they've publicly declared that their dog was roaming around all the time. I've almost hit someone's dog 3 time in morning rush hour traffic who he lets run across the road and at cars...I find it hard to have sympathy for people who are careless like this?

ShaShaBear

tk123 wrote: »

Funny as well her FB (which is public wtf?!) is full of videos and pictures of horses...the only pics of the dog are the when he's missing, found and the link above. Myself and anyone I'm friends with on FB always have pics of their dogs up?

They want it investigated which is fair enough but they've publicly declared that their dog was roaming around all the time. I've almost hit someone's dog 3 time in morning rush hour traffic who he lets run across the road and at cars...I find it hard to have sympathy for people who are careless like this?

There's a little male terrier in my estate that chases cars. It's definitely an accident waiting to happen. Estate is a small crescent shape and most residents park their cars on the road outside their house so there is a lot of weaving and pulling in/out to give way to other drivers. He can get from the garden, onto the footpath and under your car without anyone seeing him because he runs under the parked cars!
Slightly amusing that he has developed a system that gives him the element of surprise. Not so amusing when someone has to scrape him off the road :mad:

DBB

Kamili wrote: »

I find that hard to believe too, particularly as dogs need to be chipped by law.

For clarity, this is not yet true.
The microchipping legislation hasnt been enacted yet.

ShaShaBear

Kamili wrote: »

I'm pretty sure its in force from September 2015 for all puppies and March 2016 for all dogs

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/animalhealthwelfare/dogmicrochipping/DogMicrochippingFAQ120815.pdf

And as the dog in question was 2 years old, he would not have been required by law to be microchipped until March of next year.

ShaShaBear

Kamili wrote: »

my point being that I find it hard to believe a veterinary nurse telling her she shouldn't consider microchipping her dog considering this law is already coming into affect with the puppy chipping being mandatory..

sheesh!

You just said "as dogs need to be chipped by law."
By law, not all of them do.
I think DBB just wanted to clarify that as there is currently no law in place requiring this dog to have been microchipped, so as to ensure that the thread doesn't provide incorrect information.
Since she admitted on her Facebook page that the dog had no tag on any of his many wanderings and just happened to visit "the wrong neighbour" this time, chances are she never made any effort to have him chipped as a vet surgery would, of course, not advise it was unnecessary.

DBB

Kamili wrote: »

I'm pretty sure its in force from September 2015 for all puppies and March 2016 for all dogs

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/animalhealthwelfare/dogmicrochipping/DogMicrochippingFAQ120815.pdf

I sit corrected!
I hadn't copped the new puppy bit from Sept 1st.
Thanks for that

DBB

Kamili wrote: »

Can we delete my posts then please as it seems to be causing a lot of hassle? I didn't mean to offend anyone and I'm sorry for being wrong.

It's not causing hassle, it just doesn't apply to this particular case, unfortunately.
But thank you for bringing it up in any case, you taught me something new today

Milly33

Sounds all a little suss so it does.. Id say Mr Pooch was put down or given away

Knine

Milly33 wrote: »

Sounds all a little suss so it does.. Id say Mr Pooch was put down or given away

Nope they got the body of the dog back but sure the next dog they get will have a similar fate as her Facebook page does not make for nice reading.

Having had the task of taking a fatally injured serial wanderer into my house after being hit by a car while waiting on help for the little guy, I have no sympathy at all for such irresponsible people.

Pac2015

Milly33 wrote: »

Sounds all a little suss so it does.. Id say Mr Pooch was put down or given away

This simply isn't true as the owner seen the dogs body, I work in rescue and i know the volunteer who works in this pound and the dog warden and I can tell you this is without doubt one of the best pounds in Ireland if all dog pounds were run like this one we would have a great system.
Everyone who works there goes to no end to rehome dogs the warden at times has even taken some home for the weekend or on bank holidays has driven dogs to their new homes or back to owners he is dedicated which cannot be said for other pounds around Ireland.

I have seen all the negative comments on this pound and its staff and its really unfair to them this was an unfortunate accident and he was tested in with the other dogs and there was no problem and the other dogs were tested in with him.
Sadly he was not chipped or had a collar on him with ID so it took longer to locate the owner so the pound are not at fault here.
People making nasty comments only cause the council to order Facebook pages and all social media pages for that pound to be closed down and that would be to the detriment of the dogs.
Everyone needs to be sensible here and I cant even believe it has made it into the papers making it sound like the dog was put in danger by the warden.
I have said to all those making smart comments why dont you go and work in a dog pound for a week and see how you would cope or how brave you are and then come back and tell me the pound are disgrace and at fault.

Milly33

Sorry I misread the article I though it said they would not let us pick the dog up..

Seems a bit of a mess

ShaShaBear

Milly33 wrote: »

Sorry I misread the article I though it said they would not let us pick the dog up..

Seems a bit of a mess

On the contrary, an exception was made allowing them to take the dog out on a day the pound isn't even open!
She let the dog wander without ID in what appears to be a rural setting quite regularly. This was really nothing but negligence on her part.

Milly33

So the pound isn't open on Saturdays..

What if this lady was not going to pick her dog up on the Saturday. Would the dogs just be left out?

Not saying it is cruelty but in fairness someone should have been calling in every few hours to watch the dogs or let them back into their pens..

Pac2015

ShaShaBear wrote: »

On the contrary, an exception was made allowing them to take the dog out on a day the pound isn't even open!
She let the dog wander without ID in what appears to be a rural setting quite regularly. This was really nothing but negligence on her part.

The owner had no problem letting the dog stray down to the neighbours and on the road some people are saying they saw him in various areas and she has posted that he has gone missing " again " sadly for the dog he ended up in the pound because this was allowed to happen, Mullingar does not have a facility for individual dog runs so they were all in together and the dogs had been tested, the warden is a very experienced person and knows his job well.

The owner now has reported them and wants an investigation.

Milly33

The onuses is on both sides. The owners of the dog should have had him microchipped and had id on him and also maybe the shelter needs to take a look at how they are running things at the weekend.

Knine

Pac2015 wrote: »

The owner had no problem letting the dog stray down to the neighbours and on the road some people are saying they saw him in various areas and she has posted that he has gone missing " again " sadly for the dog he ended up in the pound because this was allowed to happen, Mullingar does not have a facility for individual dog runs so they were all in together and the dogs had been tested, the warden is a very experienced person and knows his job well.

The owner now has reported them and wants an investigation.

And sadly what will happen is that the pound will be likely not to mix several dogs again which means much less space & we all know what that means.........

It is the 'owner'who should be reported.

Milly33

Can the dog warden then do anything as such like report the owners for not having the dog chipped or tagged properly or even having him wondering off the lead

Pac2015

Milly33 wrote: »

The onuses is on both sides. The owners of the dog should have had him microchipped and had id on him and also maybe the shelter needs to take a look at how they are running things at the weekend.

Mullingar unfortunately does not have the facility to have separate pens the council there needs to put more money into the pound to make this happen and the owner should have had ID and a chip on the dog.
The warden goes in there on weekends when he doesn't have to and checks all dogs are okay and looked after its a bad council system that is the downfall of most pounds like the one in Dublin is a complete kip and its tendered out by SDCC but the owner wont put a cent into the place.
Mullingar is actually run really well and is kept spotless with dogs being well looked after.

Milly33

Disgrace that there isn't more money put in by the council to run the shelters .. They have been known I think all over the country as having dodgey pounds or animal shelters. It was the same in Cork.... Hopefully the system will change soon although I would not hold my breath.. I for one would not dream of bringing an animal to the pound in Cork would prefer to look after and rehome it myself as I would not trust them there.

Shame to see if everyone is working there to make it better that the bad press might harm then. But with people like here sticking up for them then I am sure people will read this too and get proper information about the case.. Well done to ye

faceman

ShaShaBear wrote: »

I cannot for the life of me believe for one second that any nurse/vet was under the impression that chipping was not needed a maximum of 2 years ago.

I can believe it. The existing legislation which is about to be changed creates no sense of urgency with microchipping.

I brought my lad to be chipped a about 6 months ago but the because the dog was a rescue with anxiety the vet was not keen on giving him the procedure until his behaviour and anxiety had relaxed. He's now 15 months old and he's being microchipped this month.

the_syco

time lord wrote: »

it's too easy to blame it all on the dog owner or the pound/local authority.

Pounds are stressful places for dogs. Add strange dogs, and yes, the rump of the pack may get killed in a fight.

Pac2015 wrote: »

The owner now has reported them and wants an investigation.

An investigation? My hole. She wants compo.

Milly33

It only takes two seconds for the chipping I would have nearly insisted she chip him when you took him in.

Our misses would be extremely nervous too I mean if you put a stick on the ground she would not cross over it very skittish and well himself had her a while before we meet and I finally managed to convince him to get her chipped, there was no question she was nervous but it takes 2 seconds not even to do it, tis over before the dog knows what has happened...

sillysmiles

I think in a way this is a sad indictment (sp?) of social media. The owner is hurt (understandably) and outraged at what she feels is the wrongs of the system, but hasn't stopped to look at where her responsibility lies in this situation.
Now the moral outrage brigade on fb have taken up the mantra of someone should have done something without ever questioning a) why pounds are so stretched and busy b) who that "someone" is and c) ignoring/not understanding that people volunteer in these places.

While I think there is a place for the owner to engage with the pound as to what could have been done, I don't think FB is the place for this.

As a dog owner I would be distraught if this happened to my dog. But if he was wandering without a collar and not microchipped then this is a risk. He could have as easily been shot, been hit by a car, been lifted/stolen for other purposes.

muddypaws

While Mullingar may be one of the best pounds, it is not fit for purpose if stray dogs are left in a run unattended. In season bitches and male dogs left on their own? There were very few dogs in that day, and there was room to keep them separated. This is not the first time this has happened in an Irish pound, but the first time that it has been publicised. The warden did and does do more than his job description, but isn't that what should be addressed? Councils need to be held accountable and policy needs to change, most pounds are only open for a few days a week to the public, and only for a couple of hours on those days. Even if the dog had been tagged and chipped, there's no guarantee that the dog wouldn't have still been there.

Yes, the dog should have been tagged, but please don't expect that you will automatically be notified by a warden if your micro-chipped dog goes missing. I have taken dogs in that have done their full stray time in a pound, been told the dog isn't chipped, taken him/her to my vet and a chip has been found straight away, and that doesn't take account of migrating chips.

I hope that there is an investigation, and am pleased this is being featured in mainstream media, not just social media. The pound system in this country is a disgrace, and it needs to be changed, nationwide. What animal care qualifications are needed to be an animal warden? In some counties, the job is combined with litter warden. Where does the licence fee money go?

Tranceypoo

the_syco wrote: »

Pounds are stressful places for dogs. Add strange dogs, and yes, the rump of the pack may get killed in a fight.


An investigation? My hole. She wants compo.

And her 15 minutes of fame by the sounds of it

time lord

The p.t.s. rate will go through the ceiling in this pound i.m.o..I'd guess the re-homing volunteer will not be there in the future so it's trend for a low p.t.s. rate will change very quickly. Supply will be the same for sure though.

Pac2015

the_syco wrote: »

Pounds are stressful places for dogs. Add strange dogs, and yes, the rump of the pack may get killed in a fight.


An investigation? My hole. She wants compo.

Probably she forgets that she has posted all over social media that he roams all the time and neighbors are posting on her page too about him being down at their house she will be lucky to get anything as this is a council run pound so the ISPCA or garda wont investigate she has been told that.

muddypaws

Pac2015 wrote: »

Probably she forgets that she has posted all over social media that he roams all the time and neighbors are posting on her page too about him being down at their house she will be lucky to get anything as this is a council run pound so the ISPCA or garda wont investigate she has been told that.

Jeez, that is horrendous, councils not being held accountable. They can do what they want then.

I am really surprised that more dog owners aren't actually up in arms about this, any dog can get out, accidents happen. That dog did not deserve to be mauled to death, no matter who or what his owner did or did not do. The council had a duty of care, once he was their responsibility.

Pac2015

muddypaws wrote: »

Jeez, that is horrendous, councils not being held accountable. They can do what they want then.

I am really surprised that more dog owners aren't actually up in arms about this, any dog can get out, accidents happen. That dog did not deserve to be mauled to death, no matter who or what his owner did or did not do. The council had a duty of care, once he was their responsibility.

It's not as simple as that, the council should be putting money into the pounds to have individual runs for the dogs it was tested with the other dogs before being put into the run the warden there is very experienced and so are all the volunteers it was an unfortunate accident but all the comments and hate that have been posted on social media sites are disgusting calling the staff in Mullingar all sorts of names I think people should be ashamed of themselves.

muddypaws

Pac2015 wrote: »

It's not as simple as that, the council should be putting money into the pounds to have individual runs for the dogs it was tested with the other dogs before being put into the run the warden there is very experienced and so are all the volunteers it was an unfortunate accident but all the comments and hate that have been posted on social media sites are disgusting calling the staff in Mullingar all sorts of names I think people should be ashamed of themselves.

Its not as simple as what, the council having responsibility for the pound, and therefore, the needless death of a dog?

I know the pound, the warden and volunteer, as I too have worked with them, and I am not interested in what happened on social media. A dog was mauled to death whilst in the care of Westmeath council, the fact that dog owners and people involved in rescue don't feel that there should be a full investigation, and a change to how pounds are run has completely flabbergasted me. I have a foster pup here at the moment, he's been 'tested' with my other dogs, and gets on great with them. Do I ever go out and leave him loose with the other dogs? Absolutely no way. As I said previously, this is not the first time that this has happened in an Irish pound, and unless things change, it won't be the last.

Why do people find it acceptable for dog wardens not to need any animal behaviour training or qualifications? And are we not supposed to cause a fuss, in case we upset the council? Nothing will ever change then, RBs will still not be released by the majority of Irish pounds unless reclaimed, dogs won't be assessed properly and they will die needlessly.

mosi

muddypaws wrote: »

Jeez, that is horrendous, councils not being held accountable. They can do what they want then.

I am really surprised that more dog owners aren't actually up in arms about this, any dog can get out, accidents happen. That dog did not deserve to be mauled to death, no matter who or what his owner did or did not do. The council had a duty of care, once he was their responsibility.

I have to say I'm in agreement here. I haven't seen what's been said on social media (although I can imagine). I also have complete contempt for people who think it's fine to let dogs wander.

However, surely that is not the real issue in this case. A dog was mauled to death while in the care of the council, having been left unattended with a number of other, larger dogs. As Muddypaws said, accidents happen and this could have happened to anyone's dog. What if, for example, it happened to a dog that had been stolen and dumped? Or if the dog had an adopter lined up? When my terrier boy was in the pound, I visited and walked him every day until his time was up and could be rehomed to me. I'd have been devastated if something like this was allowed to happen. I know these may be unusual examples, but the point is that this shouldn't happen to any dog in the care of a pound.

Many dogs end up in pounds as a result of irresponsible ownership while some are there through accidental escapes, theft etc. Either way, it is not the dog's fault. Whenever we've had strays in the house, we never leave the dogs alone together. It's too much of a risk. In a pound environment with high stress levels, strange dogs with no history, unneutered etc, it seems crazy to leave them all alone together.

I get what people are saying about this potentially leading to higher pts rates due to space issues now. However, the onus should be on pushing the council for investment in appropriate facilities.

Pac2015

muddypaws wrote: »

Its not as simple as what, the council having responsibility for the pound, and therefore, the needless death of a dog?

I know the pound, the warden and volunteer, as I too have worked with them, and I am not interested in what happened on social media. A dog was mauled to death whilst in the care of Westmeath council, the fact that dog owners and people involved in rescue don't feel that there should be a full investigation, and a change to how pounds are run has completely flabbergasted me. I have a foster pup here at the moment, he's been 'tested' with my other dogs, and gets on great with them. Do I ever go out and leave him loose with the other dogs? Absolutely no way. As I said previously, this is not the first time that this has happened in an Irish pound, and unless things change, it won't be the last.

Why do people find it acceptable for dog wardens not to need any animal behaviour training or qualifications? And are we not supposed to cause a fuss, in case we upset the council? Nothing will ever change then, RBs will still not be released by the majority of Irish pounds unless reclaimed, dogs won't be assessed properly and they will die needlessly.

I'm not saying there shouldn't be an investigation but people are going on like the dog was put in there on purpose to be mauled to death.
Councils everywhere need to put more money into pounds, Ashton is proof of that its a festering kip and I have been saying for years that a trained behaviorist needs to be available to them also proof of this was the warden from Ashton with the Save Ruby case who did a course for ONE day on dog behavior and deemed himself fit say if a dog is vicious or not.

The amount of abuse on social media is terrible and it comes from all these keyboard warriors who wouldn't dare set foot in a dog pound to do the work all the staff do.

muddypaws

Pac2015 wrote: »

I'm not saying there shouldn't be an investigation but people are going on like the dog was put in there on purpose to be mauled to death.
Councils everywhere need to put more money into pounds, Ashton is proof of that its a festering kip and I have been saying for years that a trained behaviorist needs to be available to them also proof of this was the warden from Ashton with the Save Ruby case who did a course for ONE day on dog behavior and deemed himself fit say if a dog is vicious or not.

The amount of abuse on social media is terrible and it comes from all these keyboard warriors who wouldn't dare set foot in a dog pound to do the work all the staff do.

And that's fair enough, I've also been to Ashton and wouldn't disagree with you, but I think there is a danger that we could all get sidetracked by what happened on social media, rather than the real issue of life in pounds for stray and unwanted dogs. Keyboard warriors exist, some of them are just unreal, and I did actually defend the volunteer on the FB page against someone who obviously has no concept at all of how the pound system works.

sillysmiles

mosi wrote: »

However, the onus should be on pushing the council for investment in appropriate facilities.

It should, but aren't some pounds in the process of being sold off to private (for profit) companies. Personally I fear that is the way a lot of pounds are going to go. Less hassle for the council and government who have already shown they couldn't care less about animal welfare.

Pac2015

sillysmiles wrote: »

It should, but aren't some pounds in the process of being sold off to private (for profit) companies. Personally I fear that is the way a lot of pounds are going to go. Less hassle for the council and government who have already shown they couldn't care less about animal welfare.

Yes ACS keep tendering for pounds they tried for Carlow Kilkenny and also for Clare I think it was they are the Animal collection people meaning they collect horses and they get slaughtered they actually only homed 3% of horses last year they are there to make money.

<snip> run the Meath pound and its a good set up.
CK seems to be a bit better now with new staff I believe.

strandroad

mosi wrote: »

I get what people are saying about this potentially leading to higher pts rates due to space issues now. However, the onus should be on pushing the council for investment in appropriate facilities.

I suppose we are all cynical as to the outcome.

Before review:
You have 2 kennels and 4 dogs. You assess which dogs can share a kennel, put two in each, observe and if not aggressive, leave them overnight.

After review:
You have 2 kennels and 4 dogs. You put two in the kennels and kill off the remaining two.

No risk, no compo, no newspaper racket, who cares about your council's PTS rate - you're not held accountable by anyone anyway.

I pity the poor dog, but when faced with the reality of owners who don't care, councils who don't care and the public who don't care (not to mention the authorities who don't even want to care), the staff there were doing a great job, considering. Their PTS rate this year and next year will show it I'm afraid.

strandroad

muddypaws wrote: »

Keyboard warriors exist, some of them are just unreal, and I did actually defend the volunteer on the FB page against someone who obviously has no concept at all of how the pound system works.

People have no clue, they see <snip> or <snip> facility on the telly and truly this is what pounds look like.

DBB

sillysmiles wrote: »

It should, but aren't some pounds in the process of being sold off to private (for profit) companies.

I don't know the score with all county pounds, but many local authorities tender the pound job out to privateers. Ashton has been run by a private company for years. Meath pound the same, though it has changed hands a few times.
Pounds that are actually run by local authority staff are not the norm for every county.
From this viewpoint, bear in mind that if the local authority has the pound out to tender, they want a quiet life. So, if there is malpractice at a privately run county pound, and enough complaints are made, then there's surely a better chance that the rubbish private company will not win the tender next time around when it comes up for offer, which I *think* it has to every year or so?

DBB

Folks, I've had to edit a couple of threads now to remove named rescues.
Please remember that naming individual rescues is a breach of the forum charter.
Thanks,
DBB

Pac2015

DBB wrote: »

I don't know the score with all county pounds, but many local authorities tender the pound job out to privateers. Ashton has been run by a private company for years. Meath pound the same, though it has changed hands a few times.
Pounds that are actually run by local authority staff are not the norm for every county.
From this viewpoint, bear in mind that if the local authority has the pound out to tender, they want a quiet life. So, if there is malpractice at a privately run county pound, and enough complaints are made, then there's surely a better chance that the rubbish private company will not win the tender next time around when it comes up for offer, which I *think* it has to every year or so?

Ashton is privately run via a tender won 2 years ago as a result more dogs in the Dublin region are coming out of there sick and the PTS rate is alot higher they dont have a good facility there is a kip that is filthy and outdated and the owner wont put any money into it the only reason why the pound went from Summerhill to Ashton is because it can hold more dog.

Meath is run by a rescue and have more or less no dogs PTS, CK seems to have better staff in it now but some pound dont even home to the public at all like Cork and Galway they also dont post pictures of the dogs anywhere so how can they be rehomed its a stupid system.

nala2012

I wouldn't be surprised if this hasn't happened before and not been reported. The only reason this came to light was because the dogs owner was collecting the dog. I know of a pound where the dogs are left outside at night and stolen by travellers. The warden will still leave them out. He doesn't do any proper paperwork and told a lady who surrendered her dog that it would be going to rescue. The lady called the rescue to see how dog was getting on and when rescue said they never got that dog she went back to pound and he showed her papers that said dog was released to rescue? The same pound also left a dog without medical treatment after she came in with horrific injuries after giving birth. When rescue gave out about it he told them he wouldn't release any more dogs to them. Someone had to go in and buy the dogs out and he charged 60 a pup because they were vaccinated (no card) even though on council website it says it's 25 to rehome a dog. Complaints have been made to council but they don't care.

DBB

Pac2015 wrote: »

Ashton is privately run via a tender won 2 years ago as a result more dogs in the Dublin region are coming out of there sick and the PTS rate is alot higher they dont have a good facility there is a kip that is filthy and outdated and the owner wont put any money into it the only reason why the pound went from Summerhilol to Ashton is because it can hold more dog.

Meath is run by a rescue and have more or less no dogs PTS, CK seems to have better staff in it now but some pound dont even home to the public at all like Cork and Galway they also dont post pictures of the dogs anywhere so how can they be rehomed its a stupid system.

Ashton has been privately run for far longer than 2 years. As long as I've been involved in rescue (15+ years) and beyond, it's been privately run... (Edited to add, I'd be reasonably sure that it's been the same private company at the helm for all that time, they always seem to get their tender renewed... They own the premises at Ashton, and the pound has been at Ashton as long as I can remember (decades), so my guess is that the same guy has been in charge here for a long, long time... A lot longer than 2 years in any case!)
Summerhill used to run Meath pound, and more recently South Dublin pound... there is plenty of room in Summerhill, more than there is in Ashton. It's all down to who offers the cheapest tender, and probably a dollop of behind-the-scenes politics too. In this case, it had nothing to do with how many dogs each could accommodate, because the tender was awarded to a place with less room than the sitting tender-holder.
Ashton has always had issues with disease control and rehoming (with the exception of a period of about 10 years when the now-Meath-pound rescue were strongly involved at Ashton and were rehoming hundreds of dogs every year for them... As soon as that rescue pulled out, the wheels began to fall off the cart. Similarly, Summerhill was not exactly award-winning in terms of disease control and animal welfare, though at least they worked a little better with rescues than Ashton in latter years. Every dog I pulled out of Summerhill had an infection picked up in the pound. Some did not survive.

Similarly, before the rescue won the tender for Meath (and it's not actually the rescue that runs it, they had to set up a different company under which to apply for the tender... A paper exercise), that pound was run by two other private companies in the time that I remember: Summerhill, and a place in Slane.
The running of these privately-run pounds has to be offered to tender every x number of years under regulations governing public spending. It is very often the case that once the county council has their legal obligation to provide a dog pound sorted out with a privateer, they no longer give a damn as to how it's run/rehoming rates etc. Their butts are covered.

sillysmiles

DBB wrote: »

It is very often the case that once the county council has their legal obligation to provide a dog pound sorted out with a privateer, they no longer give a damn as to how it's run/rehoming rates etc. Their butts are covered.

Do you know if this is something that gets challenged? Media attention?

DBB

sillysmiles wrote: »

Do you know if this is something that gets challenged? Media attention?

I think if a member of the public has a genuine grievance or complaint, they should certainly take it up with the county council directly if they get no joy with the pound management.
I'd say it's rare for one complaint to cause any change, but if there are enough complaints, the whole thing just becomes a hot potato for the council, and next time the job comes up for tender and there's competition for it, you'd have to think that the council will take the hot potato-ness into consideration!
This has certainly worked in one case I know of, there's probably more call for accountability these days than there was even ten years ago.