Whangarei District Council Dog Pound
Welfare inspection visit declined by Council.
Hi I’m Warren Slater and I’m Pat Slater
In
2007 there were a number of issues in relation to, the running of and animal
welfare issues with the Whangarei District Council Dog Pound.
Further to public pressure a Dog Control Review was
undertaken with many submissions made to council on 11th & 12th July 2007.
The Dog Control Review Members were : Crs Crichton Christie (chairman), Cr Frank Newman,
Cr Sue Glen and Max Atkins (independent). This review was tabled and accepted to
Council on 5 September 2007.
There
have been some developments with an addition to the administration building at
the pound.
With
time (two years) gone by we decided that it was now appropriate to have an
inspection of the pound in relation to the well being of animals being
contained there. We went through the whole of the Dog Control Review recommendations and made up a check list so upon our
visit to the Pound we could tick some boxes and see what
improvements have been made.
So with this in mind and after discussion and great
support and encouragement from an Animal
Welfare Organisation on 14 October 2009 before Environment Committee meeting I asked Whangarei District Council
Environmental manager Mr Paul Dell in front of Environment Committee Chair
Councillor Shelley Deeming to make an appointment for us to
look at the pound. He stated he would get back to me.
On the 11th November 2009 after the Environment Committee
meeting of November I sent an email to Whangarei District Council Environmental
manager Mr Paul Dell as he had not made contact and there had been numerous opportunities
to do so, as we attend all Council meetings.
He
replied on 12th November
Morning Warren. As you
are aware Grant and I have been working to implement a number of the
recommendations of the Dog management review that was undertaken prior to my
commencing with WDC. Over the last 2 years there have been many changes
including; the development of an audit system of the dog management contract
which we report to Council, the construction of the dog run on Pohe Island, the
soon to be finished upgrade to the pound, the move to injection euthanasia. Over
the last 2 years my staff and I have received few complaints regarding dog
management which you will know to be a difficult area at the best of times.
We also have a working relationship with
the RSPCA which has included trying to re-house dogs where possible. They also
undertake visits to the pound.
With all the changes that have been put
in place I see no reason why you need to “look around the pound” and therefore
decline your request to do so.
On 12th November I
sent another email reminding him of all our involvement regarding the dog
issues before he joined the Whangarei District Council in 2007.
Paul Dell
Thank you for your reply to my email of 11th November 2009.
Just to refresh your memory, prior to your employment with
Whangarei District Council Pat and I had been well involved with improving the
services of animal control/welfare in Whangarei. Many of these points were
discussed when we, (Patricia and Warren Slater) met with yourself, Cr Crichton
Christie, Mr Heinz Scheld and Mr Grant Couchman on 23 November 2007. The Dog management review undertaken
and presented to council, by the review team, reflected immensely on the submission
that Pat & I made to council during the review process.
We have involvement with the ‘ProPetsHelp’ group who also have
been waiting patiently for developments to take place in regards to the review.
They have been kept updated of
developments and we felt it was now time to check for ourselves, hence the
request of a visit.
There were a number of issues regarding the upgrade of the
animal care facilities, inclusive of the exercise yards, mentioned in the
review and to the best of our knowledge we understand these changes may not
have been undertaken as yet.
The ‘dog run’ at Pohe Island, we also understand, was not part
of the Dog management review.
We are aware some work will still not be complete but were
happy for those issues to be discussed during the visit. We indeed need to move forward on this
project and are disappointed that once again we are experiencing resistance
with any requests regarding animal welfare.
I would like to give you an opportunity to reconsider our
request.
We require a reply no later than 20th November 2009 to enable
us to inform our next group meeting of developments.
Warren & Patricia Slater
Paul Dell replied on 12th November
‘Warren clearly not all matters of the
review have been addressed at this time however we are aware of that. In due
course I will update Council. My decision re the visit has not changed.’
On 12th November because of the replies received I
emailed Cr Shelley Deeming
You will be aware
of the original request that was made to visit the pound to Mr P.Dell and
the ensuing emails which you would have received copies of.
Would you be kind
to answer two questions.
1/ What input
have you had as an elected Councillor and Chair of Whangarei District Council
Environment Committee, in the decision that has been made, in regards to the
request for us to visit the pound?
2/
Should the request to visit the pound and the ensuing
answer be a Governance or Management decision?
NB To date I have had no contact from Cr Shelley
Deeming in regards to this request
On 19th November I received an email from Mr Paul Dell Whangarei District Council Environmental manager
Hello Warren. You have enquired as to the
role of the elected representatives in the decision on your request to visit
the pound. As the Group Manger Environment I am responsible for the management
of the pound facility and while I discussed this with Councillor Deeming as the
Committee Chair I made the decision to refuse entry at this time.
The pound has had much work done but as
you already know requires more work. I am seeking funding for this. Once this
is complete we may hold an open day and if so you will be able to visit.
However exactly what areas will be open will depend on a number of matters
including distress to the animals, liability to Council, insurance issues.
In the meantime I can assure you that the
RSPCA visits the facility approximately every 2 weeks to assess the conditions.
They have their own key and inspect when they wish.
Not really happy with these
emails on 19th November I contacted 2 councillors in regard to this
latest reply and they commented they would be happy to arrange a visit to the
pound for us.
The Councillor stated
as Cr Shelley Deeming was away they would
have to wait 2 weeks to discuss it with her.
We waited over two weeks and heard nothing so on the 8th December I
contacted one of the councillors leaving a message that I would catch them at
the Council meeting on 9th December. There was no contact at the meeting so I waited
for them to return my message I had left with their spouse on the 8th December.
I phoned again on 15th December saying I was waiting for them to call
and was still waiting for the arrangements to visit the Pound.
They were waiting for Cr Shelley Deeming
to come back to them
and proceeded to ask me,
If we wished to go through the pound before
Christmas,
my reply was Yes.
I was then told
That they would contact Cr Shelley
Deeming and get back to me.
Well guess what…..It’s now Christmas and we still haven’t heard a thing
so looks like there is to be no Chrissy Presents for the unfortunate canines
who have a vacation destined in the Whangarei District Council pound.
We firmly believe from reliable information received, that the
temperature issues inside the pound kennel areas in our hot summer of some 43
degrees, the drainage/cleanliness issues of the kennels, the implementation of Euthanasia by lethal injection and the improvement
of the exercise areas, have still not
been resolved.
Previous Council media releases, Annual
reports & Long term Council
Community Plans have stated
ANNUAL REPORT 2007 -2008
P 51
During the year work on upgrading the dog pound began with the
design and consent stages completed and a project completion date set for
February 2009.
P
58 How we
performed
2007/08 Target 2007/08
Actual Comments
Auditing of the dog contract was started but not completed during
the year because of staff shortages. The target was not met, however service delivery
improvements continue to be made and an upgrade of facilities at the dog pound will
be started shortly.
Whangarei District Council Annual
Report 08|09
P
23 Work on the offices at the dog pound was carried out during
the year
P71 A new dog pound is
under construction which will provide improved customer reception facilities. Customer
satisfaction surveys shows increased satisfaction with dog and noise control
services – a marked increase over last year (93% compared to 56%).
Long-awaited
changes to Whangarei’s dog pound are due to be completed within three months.
Work has
now begun on expanded customer reception facilities, upgrading the kennels and
building a vet room. "Upgrades to
the kennels will make cleaning quicker and more effective than in the past and
will also improve ventilation," Mr Couchman said.
Public News - 7 July 2009 Register your dog
The
following article appeared in the Council's Public Notices and News pages in
the Whangarei Leader on 7 July 2009.
Pound Upgrade – Good
progress has been made upgrading Whangarei District’s dog pound and facilities,
work that was identified as an important action in the public consultation
undertaken by the previous Council. Work is about begin on the new vet room and
upgrading the kennels. We will keep you posted.
LONG TERM COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLAN
2009-2019 p133-4
Projects The upgrade to the
dog pound scheduled for completion in
early 2009, will provide for an enhanced customer service area, increased dog
exercise areas and the introduction of euthanasia of abandoned dogs. The
funding of the work was provided for in 09 year when work will be completed.
We would have thought the animal welfare issues would have been a
priority.
What don’t they want us see or know?
We are trying to make positive inroads ensuring that the upgrades to the
Whangarei District Council Dog Pound are up to the standard as recommended by
the Dog Control Review
Members. We constantly get criticised by council for being negative.
Hello, is this not a
Positive request, being made so difficult that it may turn into something
negative.
Why are we being blocked from inspecting the
Dog Pound? What do they have to hide
from the Public?
In our opinion from
comments we have been exposed to there has been a vast improvement to the
behaviour and culture of the contractor ENL Limited and their staff.
That’s for sure, it’s been great to see.
It must be hard for them
to provide a much needed service to the high standard required when we believe
the tools that council provide, with the pound facility, are not to a better
standard as recommended by the review team. With this in mind we are of the
opinion that the Whangarei District Council is again failing in its feeble
attempt to provide a standard of animal welfare which is acceptable to the
majority of people and also a requirement by law.
I have
been keeping the Animal Welfare agency and various media updated of any
developments or the lack of developments regarding our requests and the
refusals of our requests to visit the Dog Pound by Whangarei District Council
Senior management and they too are waiting for a more positive outcome.
It seems that
the Senior Management have more say than our elected representatives. Is this
right?
Signing
off we wish you all a better 2010 for animal welfare in Whangarei.
Thanks for
taking the time to watch this video and any support will be most welcome to
make improvements for our canine friends.
Contact
can be made through our website www.warrenslater.co.nz
They
are men’t to be Mans Best Friend
Bye for now
let us hope it gets sorted.