Animal neglect in NZ unacceptable – activist
Every day, Carolyn PressMcKenzie gets around 10 phone calls from people who’ve been peering over their fences at the dog next door.
‘‘The dog will be caged or chained, and they can hear them cry in distress and loneliness.’’
Press-McKenzie says her organisation, Helping You Help Animals (HUHA), a shelter that rehomes unwanted animals, is swamped with calls about animal neglect.
‘‘We’re one of many [organisations], and we are absolutely drowning in it every day.’’
With two-thirds of Kiwi households owning a pet, we think of ourselves as a nation of animal lovers. However, the activist says New Zealand has a ‘‘shameful culture of neglect’’.
‘‘So many dogs live a lonely existence. Dogs that sit alone get behavioural problems. When they do socialise, they are inappropriate, they’ll bite someone and they’re euthanised. They’re set up to fail.
‘‘The law says you have to provide for your animal’s wellbeing, but this is open to interpretation. We should draw a line and say, ‘This isn’t acceptable’.’’
‘‘If you tell someone to call SPCA or animal control, they’ll say they have. As long as the animal has food and shelter, [the owner] knows no-one is going to intervene.’’
Press-McKenzie’s cases include a rottweiler with chronic joint pain chained to a tree in the snow, and a cat tethered to a clothesline because his owner was allergic.
Nelson woman Kelly Morgan’s experiences have opened her eyes to the neglect right on her doorstep.
When Morgan first spotted Barty the dog at the Nelson SPCA, she immediately knew where he’d come from.
A few years earlier, she’d acquired a pomeranian from what she later realised was a puppy farm. The dog’s coat was matted with faeces and urine, and it refused to come out from under the bed.
‘‘I had never thought in my wildest dreams that people treated animals like that.’’
Barty was similar. ‘‘He was in a bit of a bad state. He wouldn’t even come near me.’’
The pomeranian-maltese cross had come from the same puppy farm, Morgan discovered. With his formative months spent in a run with little human contact, he had missed out on socialisation, she said.
It took months for Barty, now 17 months, to grow in confidence. He’s still cautious with strangers, and for reasons Morgan can’t fathom, he is afraid of large, white objects, like the fence across the street.
But he has a happy life, barking at people on the street and riding in a basket attached to Morgan’s scooter.
‘‘Dogs need lots of exercise, and training. They need love, affection and cuddles. I have to say, Barty’s quite spoilt.’’
An SPCA spokesperson said it encouraged anyone concerned about animal welfare to make a formal complaint.
‘‘We cannot intervene or take an animal from its owner in every circumstance. We understand that there are times when a situation may look upsetting. But . . . we can only operate within the law.
‘‘Our inspectors need to receive a complaint to be able to investigate it properly, and even if they cannot seize an animal, there are other ways they can act.’’
She added that inspectors followed up cases to monitor and take action at another time.
‘‘The law says you have to provide for your animal’s wellbeing, but this is open to interpretation.’’
Carolyn Press-McKenzie, Helping You Help Animals (HUHA)