Still no word from City of Kingston, despite many letters of support for the service we provide being sent to the CEO, Peter Bean.  It's three weeks since we wrote to Mr Bean, requesting further discussion and no response has been received as yet.

It's clear that the service we provide has a lot of support from organisations in the animal care industry, animal rescue, educational facilities, veterinarians, students we mentor and clients past and present.  These are some of the organisations, veterinarians, businesses, teaching facilities and individuals that have expressed concern regarding the closure of our puppy classes -

• Box Hill TAFE - "Without her help our students would not have had the best in the industry  available to them in a secure safe workplace."
• FOMDAC - "Friends of Manningham Dogs & Cats - FOMDAC enjoys a close working relationship with Council.  I would like to invite you to visit our facility for you to see what can be achieved."
• Sonya Kilkenny, MP - "I would be very grateful if you were able to reach a satisfactory outcome to see Jennifer continue her classes at the Carrum Community Hall."
• Local Veterinarian - "I urge you to please consider the detrimental effects of stopping her from providing her training classes. We have a serious problem already with dogs in our community suffering from anxiety, showing aggression and getting into fights."
• Veterinary Behaviourist - "To comply with the vaccination requirements of the World Small Animal Veterinarians Association, classes must be conducted in an environment which can be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, such as a local hall.  If such a venue is not available, puppy owners in the area will lose a valuable resource. "
• Assoc. Of Pet Dog Trainers Aust - "These classes have not only been a source of education and support for pet owners but have also significantly contributed to the safety and harmony of the community."
• Concerned resident - "statistics say that 69% of Australian households own a pet - and that 48% are dogs. Your constituents have a right to access quality, local, community based classes in their Community Hall. "
• Student mentored - "The service she provides is next to none, not only educating the average pet parent but also those with particular challenges such as rescues/deaf dogs and also welcoming people who would not cope well with the traditional, volunteer run  “marching around a field” style of training found at traditional dog obedience clubs"
• Pet Professional Guild Aust - New puppy owners and people with dog problems deserve access to professional trainers who use modern, fear-free animal training methods.  Access to training and support from qualified professionals will mean fewer community dog problems in the long term!
• AireNet Dog Rescue - "as a highly respected Rescue Organisation, we ourselves often benefit from guidance and advice, given freely, by Ms Wilcox."
• Concerned Resident - "It is incredibly sad that in this day and age the City of Kingston can make a unilateral decision without any input from the affected constituents."
• Student Mentored - "The closure of Paw Behaviour would have a devastating impact on my personal and professional development. The opportunity to train under the guidance and expertise of Jennifer Wilcox has been invaluable."
• Student Mentored - "In what is an unregulated industry and profession, Jennifer is fully qualified, highly experienced, and provides education and knowledge to so many people of the community every year."
• Local Resident - "Jennifer has done so much for our community's dog owners, resulting in better educated dog owners, possibly resulting in less incidents, which your Council would primarily have to deal with."

This is just a sample of what we have received. We can only hope that City of Kingston can see the value of the work we do and how many people and dogs we have helped.  

I sincerely hope we are able to continue to support the local community and would ask that you keep sharing our petition and lobbying for the provision of a professionally run puppy school in Carrum.  

With thanks
Jen x