Remember in 2021 that Knox News cited Animal Aid's CEO, Mark Menze, as an 'Animal welfare expert', for 24-hr cat curfew, without animal qualifications. In 2025, at Animal Aid, workers are reporting mistreatment, and unnecessary euthanasia. Animal Aid has pound contracts with Knox, Yarra Ranges, Whitehorse, Maroondah, Murrundindi, Wellington, East Gippsland, and soon Monash.
Concerns over Shelter Care Herald Sun: Sunday, July 6, 2025 by Fergus Ellis and Gemma Scerri
Not-for-profit Animal Aid has “disgusted” animal welfare volunteers who claim it failed to comply with strict codes of practice for shelters and pounds, and that cost cutting is badly affecting the service. And they fear the problem will worsen as the charity’s Coldstream site prepares to take on a sixth council contract.
In a report sent to the board of Animal Aid last week – seen by the Sunday Herald Sun – serious allegations were levelled against its management. One shocking claim in the report alleges an Animal Aid staffer moved a kitten at its cattery in Coldstream without -noticing it had a serious head injury. The next day, a staff member found the struggling kitten and called management for urgent veterinary assistance, but the kitten died before it saw a vet. Other claims in the report include cats being euthanised despite some animals being desexed, vaccinated and microchipped.
The report says cats were -euthanised for “behavioural” reasons, despite video evidence and pushback from staff suggesting they could have been rehabilitated.
It alleges current practices contravene Animal Aid’s mission statement, which ensures animals get a second chance, with euthanasia a last resort.
More than half a dozen sources close to the organisation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said growing frustration at the treatment of animals and staff at the cattery had prompted the leak of the report.
Financial statements filed with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission show the organisation was running at a $322,774 net deficit as of January. Sources say the financial strain on Animal Aid has weighed heavily on management.
Animal Aid’s pound facility in Coldstream has contracts with five councils: Yarra Ranges, Maroondah City, Shire of Murrundindi, Knox City and Whitehorse.
One source said there were fears overcrowding at the cattery would get worse as the organisation was set to take on a City of Monash contract in August. ...
“Working in an animal shelter is one of the hardest jobs in the world … you see what people do to cats, and people do worse things to cats than dogs,” they said. “People assume you just play with kittens all day … the things you’d see, you would never sleep.”
Photos obtained by the Sunday Herald Sun show cats living in cramped cages and pens without adequate food and water, with bowls overturned or empty.
Sickening images also show cats on bedding soaked with faeces and urine.
The report alleged that on some occasions cats were fed only one tablespoon of wet food daily.
An Animal Aid spokeswoman said the allegations were untrue. ...
Former Animal Aid foster carer Rebecca Davies, 72, said she was “disgusted” by the -recent changes she was forced to abide by. Ms Davies had volunteered with Animal Aid since 2019, but recently walked away after she was allegedly told to return two cats, Miguel and Sarah, she had been caring for.
She was told people interested in fostering the cats couldn’t go to her house for a “meet and greet”, which had previously been standard practice. Fearing the cats would be euthanised if she returned them, Ms Davies said it was in the best interests of Miguel and Sarah to adopt them and keep facilitating their rehabilitation. “I refused to return them,” she said. “I did the best thing for the cats and adopted them, then walked away. I’m disgusted, absolutely disgusted, I won’t have anything to do with them anymore.”
Knox, Murrindindi, Yarra Ranges and Whitehorse councils confirmed their relationship with Animal Aid said they were previously unaware of concerns with the organisation. All except Yarra Ranges Shire said they were seeking clarity.
Conflicting views in regards to local animal welfare organisation Ferntree Gully Star Mail 15/07/2025 by Dongyun Kwon
...Animal Aid denied all allegations reported by the Herald Sun while whistleblowers shared their own experiences, adding claims related to the allegations. ...
Animal Aid communications and engagement manager Elle Ammann said she was very upset and surprised when she saw the article. ...
Star Mail succeeded in contacting former staff members and volunteers who were willing to share their experiences which opposed Ms Ammann’s explanation.
A former Animal Aid staff member, Sue (pseudonym), who worked for the organisation for nearly a decade, said she left the shelter after her efforts to make change within the shelter didn’t work. ...
'...since (the current chief executive officer) had taken over, he didn’t want any dogs or cats to go out to rescues.
“I begged, borrowed and pleaded with this particular dog that I did get out to a rescue organisation and I used that dog as an example in which I created a report to say (to the board), ‘This is the dog. This is how it is now going. It’s effectively living happily ever after so why can’t we use rescue instead of euthanising the dog?’
“The response I got was basically, ‘Well, if we can’t rehome the dog here, we’re not going to pass on our problems to somebody else, so we’ll euthanise them’, so that didn’t get me anywhere and that was my pushing point.”
Sue claimed an older husky, which came in through the pound section, was marked for put to sleep straight away without a vet check because it looked elderly. “There are countless cases. When staff left they often took dogs with them as they were fails. When I left there, I took a few dogs with me,” she said. “One particular dog was fail if the dog wasn’t claimed in eight days. It would be failed because of chronic skin issues. He did have horrendous skin issues but they weren’t going to try to resolve them. We all kicked up a fuss. Obviously, the dog was to be put to sleep, and I said, ‘If I take the dog home and try, can we see how we go?’ Now that dog lived an extra three years, and once his fur grew back, he had no skin problem.”
Another former Animal Aid staff member, Amelia (pseudonym), said she left in 2022 when a lot of staff left due to issues within the organisation.
“For example, we had a dog on foster with a staff member. It needed orthopaedic surgery. And the staff member wanted to adopt that dog, also offered to pay for that surgery, and that dog was euthanised without the foster carer even being able to say goodbye to the dog,” Amelia claimed.
Former kennel attendant Emma (pseudonym) said one of the main issues was overcrowding. “It is a usual issue at council-contacted pounds, however, with Animal Aid, they would literally have two staff (looking after) 50 dogs plus on some days,” she said.
“We would not be able to get those dogs out to even go to the toilet some days. Because we were working so much overtime to try and get the dogs out for sufficient exercise throughout the day, they cut us off at 5 o’clock, and if we did overtime, we would get official warnings because they didn’t want to pay us essentially.
“So that led to the welfare issues with the dogs. We had dogs that would be holding on to go to the toilet. Some dogs don’t toilet in their pens. If it was after 5 o’clock, you weren’t allowed to take them out.”
Animal Aid also denied the allegation of the shelter being overcrowded.
Full article: https://ferntreegully.mailcommunity.com.au/news/2025-07-15/conflicting-views-in-regards-to-local-animal-welfare-organisation/
In response to a couple of questioners 'What can we do?' Can contact Local Councillors, ask for a no-kill pound like Save-a-Dog Scheme, or an in-house Council-run pound for no-kill, very low-kill. Ask Councils to stop wasting money on curfews. Instead implement a Community Cat Program. Require CEOs of Pounds to have Animal Welfare qualifications - not just business diplomas. Get full reports and regular checks and audits on pound managers, and management processes. Prevent full pounds taking on more contracts. Include a Contract Clause for as many animals as possible to be sent to Rescues, and Foster-carers. Order Pounds and CEOs to put Animal Welfare before Finance. Ask public questions at Local Council Meetings. More ideas, and protests, welcome. Thank you for speaking up, and showing up, for silent felines, and canines.
Photo: Designed by Freepik (real animals - not AI)