Apology over canine kerfuffle
Invercargill City Council staff have apologised and made changes to processes after an issue at the pound.
Tapanui woman Natasha Chadwick was in Australia in October when her dog Bodhi escaped from a friend’s house in Invercargill.
Bodhi was picked up by a contractor and taken to the pound.
But when Chadwick’s friends phoned the council several times to see if Bodhi was there, council staff said he wasn’t.
Council customer and environment general manager Darren Edwards said the council’s in-house call service had not given clear, accurate information when inquiries were made about whether Bodhi was in their care.
That was compounded by the fact that it was after hours, meaning animal services staff could not speak with the inquirer directly, as would often be its practice, Edwards said.
The situation could have been handled better and staff would be trained to better use the council’s information systems, he said.
Bodhi was safe and well the whole time he was at the animal care facility, he said.
The large dog, a weimaraner puppy, was returned about 22 hours after he went missing.
Edwards apologised to Chadwick in a letter, saying ‘‘a series of unfortunate errors have led to the wrong information being provided to callers inquiring as to Bodhi’s whereabouts’’.
The letter offered an unreserved apology for the ‘‘unnecessary’’ distress and discomfort caused.
Chadwick said it was good that the council had apologised, but she was frustrated that the situation had not been clearly explained to her.
She said she would not be satisfied until every animal brought in was scanned and the owner notified straight away.
Bodhi was microchipped and had a Clutha District Council tag on his collar. The incident involved Bohdi being picked up by a council contractor at 4.52pm on a Friday after he had escaped.
A friend of Chadwick’s reported him missing 20 minutes later.
That night and into Saturday morning ‘‘a number of calls’’ were made to the council’s in-house call centre inquiring as to whether Bodhi had been picked up.
Those queries were ‘‘erroneously answered, causing what I can only imagine to be unnecessary concern’’, Edwards said in the apology letter to Chadwick.
Chadwick was in Sydney at the time seeing her sick father, and thousands of people saw a social media campaign she had launched to find her dog.
Earlier this month, Chadwick said a ‘‘whistle-blower’’ had messaged her on the Saturday afternoon and told her to demand a walk-through of the pound. In a Facebook message, the person said: ‘‘Your dog is 100% in the pound.’’
Chadwick’s friend then went to the pound on her behalf and found Bodhi.
She complained to the council, asking it to investigate and saying she didn’t want another pet owner left in the dark if their pet went missing.
‘‘A series of unfortunate errors have led to the wrong information being provided to callers inquiring as to Bodhi’s whereabouts.’’ Darren Edwards Invercargill City Council customer and environment general manager