Thank you to everyone who has continued to support our cause. Since our last update more than 1000 people have signed. The treatment of animals in so many pounds needs improvement. There have been many improvements at Wagga Pound and the animals are being cared for appropriately, but we hold Council accountable for what occurred at Wagga pound. We would like all the issues that occurred at Wagga pound to be properly addressed and justice for the animals that suffered. We think when members of the public raise serious concerns, Council should investigate these concerns thoroughly.
We are really interested in the replies the RSPCA and Council gave to the questions in our recent updates regarding Saviour the kitten put alive in the freezer and "the frozen cat incident". If people could please forward the responses they received to lieschke.simone@gmail.com we would really appreciate this. We are particularly interested in the replies that Council gave in regards to the frozen cat incident. We think this has never been properly investigated and all our questions remain unanswered. In most of the responses from Council that we have received, they do not discuss the frozen cat incident. We know that the frozen cat in the freezer is not the “road kill” cat which was Council’s explanation - the frozen cat was already in the freezer early in the morning. We do not understand why Council has never investigated this properly or given us an explanation on the two cats that disappeared overnight and answers to all our questions, e.g. why an un-bagged cat was put in the freezer? Unless Council has another explanation, we think a criminal act may have occurred. We are also interested in the replies that the RSPCA gave in regards to the frozen cat incident (please email to lieschke.simone@gmail.com). We think our concerns were never investigated properly by Council or the RSPCA. We have never received a response from the RSPCA.
When we first wrote to the RSPCA/Council in May 2015 about conditions at Wagga pound, we wrote not only about Saviour the kitten put alive in the freezer, but also about the treatment of feral cats, sick animals receiving no vet treatment, the lack of bedding for the dogs, dogs left on wet concrete even in winter, animals left in the deposit pens for longer than necessary, and animals without water and food.
When Council replied and stated in June 2015, “I can also confirm that an inspector from the RSPCA has visited the animal shelter twice during June to undertake random inspections and I am informed that the inspector identified no issues relative to the condition the animals are in during their time at the shelter”. “No issues”, when a kitten has been put alive in the freezer, 69 dogs and 23 cats have died at the facility over a 3 year period (this is not counting the hundreds of animals that were euthanised) and a cat has been left in a crush cage for 5 days. It raised doubts as to how thorough the RSPCA’s investigation was.
When we questioned Council in further emails in regards to the cat kept in the crush cage for 5 days with no food or water and asked who had given the cat food and water, Council’s reply in August 2015 stated, “I am unable to provide any further comment in relation to this matter other than to say that my focus (and that of the ranger team) is to implement improved processes at GRAS that improve animal welfare…”. This was written in 2015. Media exposure in 2016 and our petition updates show how there were still concerns regarding animal welfare.
A second investigation was then carried out by the RSPCA. We question how thoroughly RSPCA carried out their investigations as the same issues we had raised kept occurring. A written report was never given to Council by the RSPCA. If there is no documentation how do we know what was investigated, what conclusions were reached and what recommendations were made by the RSPCA?
Why did Wagga Council allow this mistreatment of animals to continue for so long? E.g. why were the dogs moved to the new dog kennels when the in-floor heating was not working? For about 6 months the dogs were left to sleep on often wet unheated cement where the minimum temperature in some months got down to 5.1 degrees. It took media exposure for the dogs to obtain beds and the in-floor heating to be fixed. It was pitiful to see the puppies curling up in their food bowl to get off the cold concrete. Where is the justice for all these animals that suffered so unnecessarily?
We think an independent government body should regularly check pounds and check what procedures are in place, investigate any issues, check that legislation is being met, that they are being adequately resourced by Council, that records are being kept accurately and that staff are appropriately qualified. We do not understand why the government still relies on a charity (to which GIPA doesn’t apply) to investigate animal welfare issues.