Starving, neglected pets find no safety with the RSPCA

On Friday 30 November 2012, RSPCA NSW Inspectors and Shoalhaven Rangers attended a property in Terara in response to complaints of animal cruelty.

While on site, RSPCA inspectors seized;

- four Poodle crossbreeds
- two Poodle crossbreed pups
- four Cattle crossbreed pups
- a Silky Terrier crossbreed pup
- and a Maltese crossbreed pup

A total of 12 dogs. Inspectors also seized eight cats.

From the RSPCA NSW media release:

“Veterinary examination of the seized animals found several of them to be severely underweight and six tested positive for hookworm.”

Skinny, wormy pets entering RSPCA NSW care. Should have been a chance for some fantastic happy endings, no?

What happened next?

The pets were held, until an interim order was granted and the RSPCA took ownership of the pets in May 2013.

Another six kittens were born while in care.

During their six months in RSPCA custody, these pets clocked up $83,243 in animal care charges (this amount was awarded back to the RSPCA in Nowra Local Court this week).

Each of these dogs and cats needed vet treatment and assessment. They needed to be groomed, wormed and vaccinated. They will have been kept in kennels at the RSPCA, and maybe for the first time in their lives they will have had a warm bed and to have been given regular meals.

But what they needed most of all – as all dogs and cats from abuse, puppy farming or neglectful situations do – was the behavioural rehabilitation that would have allowed them to be placed with new families at the end of their time in care.

They could have received this from experienced foster carers specialising in dogs and cats who need extra care. They could have been passed on to a community rescue group known for rehabilitating ex-puppy farm or neglect cases. They could have even been put into a comprehensive shelter-based rehabilitation program.

Let’s face it – the RSPCA NSW had six months to take assertive, proactive action on behalf of these guys, to get them if not ready for a new family, ready for a halfway home in rescue or foster.

What actually happened after six months of RSPCA NSW ‘care’ at a cost of over $83,000 once ownership was transferred legally to the organisation?

8 of the 12 dogs, and 3 of the 8 cats were killed as ‘unadoptable’.

What the hell kind of ‘rescue’ is that?

Eight of the dogs were described in the RSPCA media release as ‘pups’ – meaning they were likely under a year old. They had their whole lives ahead of them. Most of these dogs were small and popular breeds.

Despite this, being killed was the most likely outcome of being ‘rescued’ by the RSPCA NSW.

‘unadoptable?’

The cats did fare a little better, with five cats adopted. The six kittens are currently still in care.

The culture of killing continues

People donate to the RSPCA because they want to see our most vulnerable animals protected. Yet time and time again, we see animals taken from places where they were not safe, to the RSPCA where they are even less safe – and that is where their lives are taken.

We must reject killing as an appropriate way to treat or manage our companion animals. We must demand better.