🐾 Ziggy Is Home - And We’re Celebrating Her Return!

Ziggy is finally home - safe, warm, and back with the people who love her daily. After more than two months of separation, advocacy and tens of thousands of dollars, Ziggy is home.

Alongside that joy came the reality of the condition she was returned in.

Despite being a strong, healthy young Great Dane when seized, Ziggy came home 9kg lighter, with conjunctivitis, irritated dandruff-like skin, and clear signs of prolonged stress and anxiety.

None of these issues existed prior to LDH custody. 

No family dog should deteriorate like this inside a government-funded facility when there were both alternatives and options to reduce stress summarily denied.

Worse still - Council could have made this decision months ago - the reasonable course of action was at their disposal from Day 1. Instead, tens of thousands of dollars were burned on legal fees, and countless hours were spent on welfare reporting, FOI requests, advocacy, and unnecessary escalation. A single early, reasonable decision could have spared this entire ordeal.

Ultimately, the process was dragged out for no welfare benefit, at enormous cost to myself, the community, and most distressingly, to Ziggy.

 
💥 What Ziggy’s Case Exposed

1. Zero Transparency
Council failed to provide basic welfare information for weeks, even when formally requested through FOI and Administrative Law avenues. They still have not produced the FOI documents, nor have they responded to the formal complaint lodged.

2. No Oversight of LDH Care
When asked who was responsible for welfare checks, Maribyrnong Council stated: “It is Melbourne City’s jurisdiction” — despite relying on LDH for all practical implementation of Domestic Animal Management functions. This abdication of responsibility is recorded in the October Council Meeting Minutes.

3. Animals With No Advocates Are Still Suffering
Ziggy survived because she had someone fighting for her daily — at enormous cost. Most impounded animals don’t. Many deteriorate without a single external body checking on them, and in many cases, without anyone even knowing they exist.

This is a disgrace, and it is happening right now across Victoria.

 
🏛️ Oversight Bodies Failed to Act

Throughout Ziggy’s detention, every oversight pathway that should safeguard animal welfare was engaged - and none of them acted.

Despite detailed complaints, statutory declarations, welfare concerns, and repeated follow-ups:

• Agriculture Victoria took no meaningful action and did not intervene.
• The Victorian Ombudsman declined to investigate despite clear governance failures.
• Other oversight bodies redirected responsibility or ignored the matter entirely.

This exposes a dangerous structural gap: when a council abdicates responsibility and a contracted shelter refuses transparency, there is no functioning escalation path. Animals can - and do - deteriorate (or worse) with no independent oversight.

Ziggy survived because she had ongoing advocacy. Most impounded animals do not have that privilege.

 
🙏 Acknowledgements

A heartfelt thank-you to the rare lawyers in Victoria who truly understand animal law and genuinely care about the animals involved. Many will take your case at great expense while doing very little - but the good ones make all the difference. I’ll be publishing a guide on how to find those specialists soon.

Thank you also to some experienced dog behaviourists who supported me through this ordeal and offered critical advice - freely and generously. (Id like to say ProDog was one of them, but they did not support at all)

And a massive thank-you to Georgie Purcell and the Animal Justice Party. You were the only representatives who took Ziggy’s welfare and the systemic issues seriously. You followed up, asked questions, pushed for transparency, and raised the broader issues in Parliament - and won.

Your leadership mattered.

By contrast:

• My Local Councillor (elected to oversee council governance)
• My local Footscray MP
• The Victorian Greens office

all failed to respond, investigate, or act - even when presented with clear welfare concerns and documented council failures.

I know exactly who I will not be voting for in upcoming elections.

❤️ Lastly, but absolutely not least! - a massive thankyou to all of you for signing and sharing this campaign - and to the local community members who knew Ziggy, and wrote declarations on her.

This support meant the world to me. I cannot tell you how much this mattered - especially on some of my darkest days.

 
🔥 Where We Go From Here

Ziggy is safe - but the campaign isn’t over.

Victoria still has:

• No enforceable welfare oversight for impounded pets
• No meaningful external monitoring of private shelters holding council contracts
• No transparency requirements for daily care
• Councils actively passing responsibility between jurisdictions
• Animals deteriorating and suffering behind closed doors

I will continue advocating on these issues, knowing firsthand how urgently change is needed and will continue my campaign for LDH transparency & Council oversight on this related petition: https://www.change.org/lostdogshome-petition

 
💛 A Word on Donations

• Do not donate to large organisations like LDH. They are businesses NOT shelters.
• Instead, support small volunteer-run rescue and foster groups - the ones doing real, hands-on work. These groups are under-funded, community-driven, and genuinely animal-centred. Unlike organisations receiving tens of millions in public funding(ahem LDH) while euthanising high numbers of animals and enforcing policies that harm welfare (such as banning visitation), community rescues rely on goodwill, transparency, and compassion.
• Consider fostering an animal if you can (I fostered while Ziggy was impounded & I hope I made a small difference for Roo)

THANKYOU 

❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️