Big Picture November 2010 Animal Care Facility ‘OUR STORY’

1. Big PictureNovember 2010Animal Care Facility‘OUR STORY’ acknowledges the efforts of Craig Pagett, Tracy Anderson, Amanda Purtell, Jamie Taylor, Narelle Moran, Jody Hinds & the Ranger Team.

2. What happened? • A very well planned and orchestrated campaign by animal welfare advocates was launched against the management and operation of the animal care facility at the Council meeting on 27 August 2008. Then followed months of; • Intense critical media interest – TV, radio, newspapers (Sydney, Hunter, CC). • Hundreds of e-mails from animal welfare advocates Australia wide condemning WSC. E.g. “I must say you are the most barbaric inhumane disgusting group of individuals I have ever had the displeasure to hear of”; and “You should be ashamed! You are a disgrace as a human being if what I hear is true. I will be contacting everybody I can think of with any pull in your town and asking them that you be dismissed immediately”.

3. What was the problem? The complaints centred on; • The method of euthanasia • The high number of cats and dogs euthansed • Alleged poor standard of care for the cats and dogs

4. So what was the truth? • Between 2005/08 the ACF received 3,882 cats and dogs. • 2008 (52%) cats and dogs were euthanased. • WSC was euthanasing cats and dogs using intra-cardiac injection. • Staff not vets euthanased animals. • Staff operated the animal care facility under an extremely heavy workload, without sufficient support or strategic direction. • Management lacked the necessary understanding of the ACF operations. • Some animal welfare advocates were unreasonable and prone to deliberate misleading and mischievous behaviour.

5. How did staff respond? • Acknowledged the need for change and despite numerous difficulties rose to the challenge. • Undertook a complete review of legislative compliance obligations – implemented the necessary changes to ensure full compliance. • Developed a comprehensive staff Procedure Manual for the management and operation of the Animal Care Facility. • Developed a detailed Strategic Plan based on the fundamental objective of saving cats and dogs by; Reducing the number of cats and dogs arriving at the ACF. Increasing the number of cats and dogs released back to their owners. Increasing the number of animals re-homed. Reducing the number of animals euthanased

6. Reducing the number of cats and dogs arriving at the ACF • Rangers exhaust all efforts to return animals to owner rather than to ACF • Comprehensive and targeted public awareness campaign promoting ‘Responsible pet ownership’ and ‘A pet is for life’. • Significantly increasing identification rates (microchip and registration) to enable Council to contact owners of seized and lost cats and dogs. • Discouraging irresponsible surrenders of cats and dogs • Provide advice and support to overcome behaviour problems, dog training classes • Provide information/contacts on private re-homing options  Refuse to accept ill/injured animals (take to their own vet)

7. Increasing the number of cats and dogs reunited with their owners. • Embarked on an intensive campaign to increase animal registrations - led to more accurate and reliable information on the Companion Animals Register • Allocated Ranger (0.5 FTE) to pursue unregistered animals and owners who failed to respond to Council seizure notices. • Restructured fees and charges to remove disincentive for owners to seek release of their animals from the ACF. • Staff more proactive in contacting owners of seized cats and dogs. • Review ACF operating hours – • Incoming telephone calls – (F & M) • Activity reports – animals arriving and leaving – (M & T) • Customer survey – (M & W)

8. Increasing the number of animals re-homed. • Be more proactive marketing cats and dogs available from the ACF  Purchase price to be affordable and a viable alternative to pet shops and backyard breeders. • Animal gallery on WSC website to be inviting and well pitched. • Targeted advertising, regular spot on community radio. • Subsidise cost of cats. • Establish puppy/small dog and separate kitten viewing rooms. • Animal socialisation program – community volunteer walkers • Provide outside runs to allow interaction between dogs and people interested in re-homing. • All dogs undergo comprehensive temperament assessment to ensure only suitable animals are re-homed – utilize competent volunteers. • Introduce Paw-Fit program – matching individuals and families with the animal. • Build stronger and more productive partnerships with community based dog and cat re-homing organisations. • Note; Recently re-homing organisations have tended to rescue fewer animals from Wyong in favour of Council’s with a higher kill rate.

9. Reducing the number of animals euthanased Implemented the Life Saving Matrix Saveable Healthy *Treatable (reasonable cost) Non-saveable Irremediably suffering Vicious/dangerous dog Feral cat 07/08 – 645/1210 (52%) 08/09 – 381/1924 (19%) 09/10 – 349/2116 (16%) Sep Quarter 2010/11 – no healthy, *treatable cat or dog was euthanased.

10. Future challenges To be sustainable  Increase accommodation capacity without capital expenditure i.e. do more with the same number of kennels. • Increase rate of animals returned to owners/sales/re-homing • Reduce number of stay/days per animal • Establish community based foster care program to relocate animals awaiting re-homing. • Establish Pets for Therapy Program – companion pets for lonely, elderly residents of the shire  Balance between social responsibility and compliance. • Cost/benefit – do we want to be/can we afford to be the benchmark?  Protect staff welfare • Set reasonable and achievable targets

11. Future challenges  Get bigger bang for your $buck – • manage costs – competitive tendering e.g. vet services, dog/cat food. • Increased staff capacity to manage preventable and infectious disease in cats and dogs – reduce reliance on vet. • Increased use of community volunteers • Continue to grow income as has been achieved over past 2 years. • Sponsorship opportunities