Chained dogs NZ’s ‘dirty little secret’
Schofield is a big teddy bear of a dog.
But for the first two years of his life, he spent day and night on a chain in Auckland, starved of human interaction, an animal welfare group says.
Chained Dog Rehabilitation and Rehoming NZ trustee Amanda Fraser-Jones said Schofield was now just a big goober.
A mixed breed with a staffordshire bull terrier face, Schofield was one of the 100 animals rescued by CDRRNZ – a charity focused on challenging the practice of life-chaining dogs.
CDRRNZ is holding its first fundraising gala dinner in west Auckland on September 28. While still legal in New Zealand, lifechaining of pets has become increasingly controversial.
Improving the situation relied on education, Fraser-Jones said. ‘‘The ideal situation is not to remove the dog. Ideal is to educate families to have a happy and healthy family dog.’’
CDRRNZ has no legal authority to take dogs. If a dog comes into their care it was voluntary. ‘‘Then we have to find foster homes and this is the hardest part.’’
These dogs are fostered, retrained and then put up for adoption. Fraser-Jones described the dogs as reverting to 50 kilogram puppies.
‘‘When we find the right home, it’s brilliant. But, you have to be a
‘‘When dogs are left like this they can go into a very bad space.’’
special person to take an ex-chained dog. No matter how good the training is, they get overexcited about life.’’
There was no judgement when they work with these families, Fraser-Jones said. Rather it was about relationship building, education and engagement, she said.
Serena Maitland, volunteer with CDRRNZ, said the life-chaining of dogs was New Zealand’s ‘‘dirty little secret’’.
Maitland said chained dogs were often the ones that we heard about in the media. ‘‘These are the at risk dogs who are lacking in social experiences with both humans and other animals. That is what makes them a risk – not their breed. They are the ones that get out and bite someone. They don’t know how to dog.’’
Professor Kevin Stafford, of Massey University’s Institute of Vet, Animal and Biomedical Services, said long-term chaining was a problem. He said the solitary existence of life-chained animals raised the possibility of significant issues.
‘‘Dogs do not like being by themselves. When dogs are left like this they can go into a very bad space, they become anxious or aggressive.’’