Animal welfare is priority for Baw Baw

Despite admitting its current municipal pound facility needs renewal, Baw Baw Shire has said the welfare of animals in the pound is always a priority.

Defending claims by a Drouin woman who last week lashed out on social media about the pound’s conditions, council’s planning and economic development director Matthew Cripps said “the welfare of each and every animal that comes through our doors is always our number one priority.”

The complainant, Hilda Greaves, wrote to Baw Baw Shire and the RSPCA, describing the pound as “a living hell.”

“I have never seen such a disgusting building holding live animals, no windows, no ventilation, no human contact except once a day when they are fed apparently.”

Mr Cripps said council acknowledged the pound needed renewal and while it wasn’t the newest or most attractive facility, animal welfare was a priority.

He said pounds were governed by the state government’s Code of Practice for the Operation of Animal Pounds and Shelters.

Mr Cripps said while the last audit determined the pound facility needed some work, it found “our animal handling processes were excellent.”

“The last audit of the animal pound found that the facility was non-compliant. We implemented temporary measures to the existing pound as a short-term solution, and these have met the requirements identified in the audit process. We know, however, that long-term fixes are required.

“While council determines the best course of action for renewing the facility, temporary measures have been implemented to the existing pound as a short-term solution,” Mr Cripps said.

Ms Greaves voiced her concerns on social media after having to reclaim her son’s dog that was picked up in Drouin while he was visiting his mother.

She complained that they were forced to pay a registration fee for the dog when they collected it from the pound, even though her son does not live in the shire.

She said they also were fined and charged to recover his dog from the pound.

Mr Cripps said they were charged the standard dog registration and pound release fees.

“When the dog was handed in, the details listed on the dog’s microchip were not entirely up to date. As such, council staff were unsuccessful in their first attempts to contact the dog’s owner and they had no option but to impound the dog until the owner could be located.

Mr Cripps said council staff also discovered the dog was not registered.

“Under Victorian law, council is not allowed to release unregistered animals. As such, the dog had to be registered before the owner could take it home.

“Because the dog lives outside of Baw Baw Shire, our staff checked with appropriate council and they advised that if the owner could show proof of registration that they would transfer the registration free of charge until April 2018 (when the registration will need to be renewed).

“Our staff provided the owner with the relevant paperwork to make this process easy,” he said.

Mr Cripps said while the owner was required to pay standard registration and release fees, council chose not to issue an infringement for failing to register the dog in this instance.

Council last year purchased a privately run dog and cat kennel facility at Longwarry, Utopia Pet Lodge, where it intends to develop a new municipal pound.