Looking back over the Te Awamutu history until the disbanding of the Te Awamutu SPCA committee removing them and taking over the control of the facility by the RSPCA national office under direction of Charles Cadwallader. The reason for doing this in the first place was, as has been stated publicly by Charles Cadwallader in different public statements, the facility was under managed. Under managing their consent, over population by a fantastic number, (including animals from volunteers who would bring their own animals to the centre). Bob Kerridge does in his office in Auckland all the time. After all these are animal lovers and they own animals themselves, and enjoy their company. Further there where claims of under manageging the cleanliness of the facility with faeces and flies in the facility. Further claims of under managing the long term tenancies of animals and generally breaking the Animal welfare Act by acting as animal inspectors and making financial alliance’s with interested parties.
Now we have had some time to reflect on these things let analyse these and get the facts straight.
First some historical facts, Te Awamutu SPCA has been around for 30 or more years and as with all volunteer community organisations gone through highs and lows as members came and went and with strong leadership came with real commitment and some of the true animal heroes are still on the scene. At one point the group was almost defunct after the RSPCA disbanded the committee and one must remember this organisation was a back yard operation. But when the group was close to falling over and the RSPCA was about to become the recipient of all the cash in the kitty (including a bequest), a local vet stepped in and called to wider Te Awamutu community to take action or loose a badly needed service that truly looked after the animals in need of a second chance and life. this was the start of what was until recently the Te Awamutu SPCA Animal Heaven. The steering group started again with energy that has not been seen before and from this back yard operation the plan to do it properly was formed and Fundraising and building began.
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A design for a 35 dogs and 100 cat facility was worked on and eventually build. Along the way when in the out skirts of town the facility was connected to all and every dog barking for miles. This resulted in the overnight housing to be noise proofed and ultimately a reduction in dogs allowed to be cared for, down to only 20, almost halve the original required size for this town. The Council has a 5 dog facility and started to rely on this for dogs the Dog Control staff decided should get another chance. So the need to turn dogs over faster was created with a very active re-homing focused operation. With this close working relationship between Waipa district council staff animal welfare worked great. This was until Council had to swap Cambridge dog control oficers between Te Awamutu and Cambridge. The person had a price on her head for her aggressively catching and killing of “stay dogs”. Even if they were on their own section she would price them of and hurdle them in her van before residents knew of the plight of their beloved pet. She herself owns 8 dogs and after the Waipa Dsistrict Council passed a by law to restrict ownership of dogs to maximum 5 with permit she had to move out to a neighbouring council to get around this by law.
You can see where this is going and yes on her insistence she organised through the RSPCA enforcement inspectors (ex-policemen) to raid the Te Awamutu facility to get rid ones and for all this animal mad committee that has a no-kill policy and hides dogs from her that she wants to kill to satisfy her mental quota. And when a green new Environment Team Leader was place in charge of the council dog enforcement department earlier this year she saw her chance and her dream finally came true.
[Image]After decimating the successful working committee and place a volunteer in charge the Te Awamutu SPCA has slowly lost all its gains. No money to pay mortgage or power. Phone is about to be cut of after the RSPCA run up massive bills ringing all over the world. No advertising and consequently no animals re-homed. Waipa animal control officer after putting down eight of the SPCA and peoples privately owned dogs is using this facility as if it where its own. A recent introduction of a Parvo infected dog to the facility and the consequence re-homing to a volunteer high lights the incompetence of those involved. This virus is now on all the animals that come through the facility. All dogs used to go into a holding situation and get checked by a vet before it was allowed to join other animals let alone get let out for re-homing.
The Parvo virus
Sadly all the expertise has been lost amateurs with good intentions are making a hash of it and the RSPCA has run away trying to find anything on past members to make out they knew all along what they were doing. It now appears they had no grounds to do the raid and if anything they have done more damage to the lives of Waipa's abandoned animals than anyone before. So we had the best of people and systems but some people in powerful positions combined with ignorance and self-interest have managed to embarrass themselves to the point they cannot admit to the truth and now have to stick to their original story and in the process we are left with badly treated local hero's, dead animals and no future for the others or future animals in need.
WHAT A MESS!
Update: http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/6571372/Troubled-SPCA-branch-is-put-out-of-its-misery
This is much more balanced reporting, it supports the fact she is a Hero not a person that mistreats animals. The Waipa District Council CEO must now look at the facts and put the Dog Control Officer responsible for this on notice as she has made the council break the Animal Welfare Act.
ReplyDeleteWhen neighbours complained of the noise and smell emanating from the local SPCA, the council was bound to investigate.
What it found would cause astonishment: The SPCA - the association that protects animals from cruelty - had 37 dogs locked in a facility that was permitted to keep only 20.
Now, the SPCA's head office is investigating its former Te Awamutu manager - who only a year earlier was honoured for a lifetime of work for the good of animals. The SPCA is expected to complete its report this week and the former manager, Dianne Gray, says she has been told she could face charges.
But, speaking out for the first time, she questioned the SPCA's decision to remove her from the role of local manager.
She says the reason she had been forced to keep so many animals was because of a recent SPCA policy to not euthanise healthy animals - meaning she had more dogs than she could find homes for.
Gray was stood down from her role in June after the Waipa District Council complained to the SPCA's national office about odour, noise and the number of dogs housed at the Bruce Berquist Drive facility.
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Gray says the SPCA was unfairly targeted, and among the 37 dogs were some of her own pets, which lived off-premises.
The inspectors would often turn up first thing in the morning, before there was a chance to do the morning's cleaning, she says.
"If you come at 9am and nothing's done of course you're going to find faeces, just the same as you'd find in any kennel in New Zealand. I've been threatened with prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act, but they haven't said what for."
Gray alleges that SPCAs the length of New Zealand are getting overcrowded since the national organisation introduced a campaign, Saving Lives, intended to reduce the numbers of healthy animals that are put down.
Gray says the SPCA had previously held a permit for 34 dogs but the national office instructed Waipa District Council to reduce the permit to 20.
"That's what they did so it's very difficult to always keep to 20 dogs," says Gray.
SPCA national president Bob Kerridge denies this: "In terms of the permit that's granted by the Waipa District Council they have a permit for 20 dogs, end of story."
He would not comment on details of the Te Awamutu investigation until it was completed. He expects that to be this week.
Once the national body of the SPCA had taken over management, 10 dogs from the Te Awamutu SPCA were signed over to the Waipa District Council.
Nine were killed after being assessed by council staff. The dogs killed were mostly either pitbulls or pitbull crosses.
By Kieran Nash
The character assassination continues, the RSPCA national office cut of Mr & Mrs Grey's phone and took over their personal post box. What do they get away with. They also wanted to steal her post and her donated car. Luckily the owner stood over the RSPCA pit bull and send him scared. They are beyond any law. Finally the last straw and a complaint has been laid over these incidents.
ReplyDeleteThey are so good at these things as they have done this to eleven other small spca groups, they go in guns blazing make unbelievable claims and report it in the press who blindly report it. Shit sticks and eventually the RSPCA head office sells up the assets and pay them self $100,000+ salaries. This must be New Zealands most corrupt institution.
No Charges will be laid so all the fuss over nothing. But in the mean time the RSPCA of New Zealand has taken over control of yet another independent community shelter! and the RSPCA Inspectors got their bonus for this achievement!
ReplyDeleteBe very aware they are pitbull dogs with with a snake bite, completely corrupt!