It has come to our attention that the person who was employed by Wagga Council as the new Animal Welfare Supervisor at Wagga Pound/GRAS has been dismissed from this position. In the short time that they were employed there we noticed that positive changes were beginning to occur at GRAS. Some of these changes included: - Sick animals were noticed immediately and were treated either by the qualified Animal Welfare Supervisor or the vet. - Guidelines were put in place for cleaning/drying the dog kennels. - Networking and improved communications with rescue groups. - Animals held for longer periods. - Daily health checks. - Submission to Council for indestructible beds for all dogs. - Submission for cat condos (larger cat-friendly cages). It is of great concern that a person who has formal animal qualifications, has had experience in running an animal shelter and who has started to instigate positive changes at GRAS has been dismissed. When we inquired about the appointment of the new Animal Welfare Supervisor Council stated, "We have undertaken a comprehensive recruitment process over the past weeks to ensure the highest caliber of applicants… I can say that we are very pleased and confident in the qualifications and experience of our successful candidate.” As we have stated before, GRAS needs the financial support, resources and awareness of animal welfare from Council management. Also, one person alone cannot achieve all the improvements needed at GRAS - it needs a team effort, with all staff having formal animal qualifications. We are concerned about the commitment of Council management towards animal welfare. We would like Council management to fully implement our petition requests and the best practice recommendations in Dr Michelsen's review, and the time-frame that they will be implemented.