RSPCA states, “You can help RSPCA NSW create a world where animals can enjoy a life safeguarded by five important freedoms.”

We matched up RSPCA’s five important freedoms with outcomes from the NSW Animal Welfare Code of Practice, which states that Council Pounds “must comply with the standards of this code”.

RSPCA: 4. “Freedom to express normal behaviour by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal's own kind.”

Code of Practice: “Provision of sufficient space for animals to stand, move around freely, stretch fully and rest.”

“Cats must be provided with litter trays.”

“Cats must be provided with bedding.”

“Adult dogs and cats should be fed daily.”

“Fresh water must be available at all times.”

“Cats must have sufficient room to enable them to stretch and to move about freely.”

In Myriam’s first letter to the RSPCA in 2015, she wrote about a feral cat that had been kept in a crush cage for 5 days. It had no water, food, bedding or kitty litter. There weren’t even water/food bowls in the crush cage. When she spoke to the rangers and Council about this, Myriam was told that every animal at Wagga Pound was "fed and watered on a daily basis." When Myriam questioned this further and asked:

- Which rangers had given the cat food/water over this 5-day period?

- Why wasn’t there a water bowl and a food bowl in the cage?

- If they had been taken out of the crush cage why weren’t they immediately replaced?

Council’s response was, “I am unable to provide any further comment in relation to this matter…”.

On another occasion a feral cat was brought into the cattery in a crush cage with the door pushed halfway up (there was very little room for the cat to move at all). The ranger was going to leave the cat in the crush cage with the door pushed halfway up. When Myriam asked the ranger to please pull the door back out to give the cat some more room, they ungraciously did so. This cat was given no water, food, bedding or litter. Where was Council’s duty of care towards this cat and the other animals in their care?

This inappropriate treatment continued. From an email Simone sent to Council in August 2015 “I was at GRAS on 3rd of August 2015. There was a feral cat in a crush cage and it had been there since 28th July 2015. The cat was surrounded by dried faeces in its cage, and had some biscuits tossed on and near the faeces. Is it Council policy to keep feral cats in crush cages for 6 days straight, living in their own faeces?”

Why were feral cats kept in crush cages for such inappropriate lengths of time?

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (POCTA), “Section 9 1A (3)” states,

“A person in charge of an animal (other than a stock animal) shall not confine the animal in a cage of which the height, length or breadth is insufficient to allow the animal a reasonable opportunity for adequate exercise.”

This is LEGISLATION.

The inappropriate treatment of some cats had continued for years at Wagga Pound but our concerns were never addressed. Another example of inappropriate treatment was when Myriam went to Wagga Pound on Monday in May 2015. There were two kittens in a crush cage. They were wet, frightened and the crush cage was wet with urine/water. These kittens only had a water bowl in their crush cage. Upon querying Myriam was told that these kittens had come in on Saturday and that one of them had bitten a ranger. These two kittens were up to their third day in a crush cage with no food, bedding or litter when Myriam saw them on Monday. We have cross referenced this with the Cat Impound Register and cannot find where these two kittens are entered on the Impound Register.

We asked Wagga Council for their Feral Cat Procedure. This Feral Cat Procedure states, “Upon the receipt of a suspected feral cat, all care is to be taken in regards to officer welfare and safety. The cat is to be placed into a crush cage and transported to the Cattery and placed inside a holding cage, whilst still in the crush cage… The cage is to be covered with a blanket or similar on the inside. The cage is to be locked with a padlock… At the earliest opportunity, i.e. Tuesday or Thursday Morning, the contracted Vet is to examine and make a determination of the animal. Should the contract Vet deem the animal to be feral, it is to be euthanized…”.

This Feral Cat Procedure has no mention of water, food, bedding or kitty litter for the animal. According to this procedure by Wagga Council, if a feral cat came in on Thursday afternoon it could be left in the crush cage until the Tuesday morning which is a euthanasia day (that is 4 to 5 days in the crush cage), which is what Myriam observed. We will never understand why Council management had such a procedure in place. We think this procedure contravenes so many aspects of POCTA. We asked Council management were Council staff familiar with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. In a response from Council in 2015 it stated, “I agree with you there is a need for staff who work at the GRAS to receive further training in relation to the Provision [Prevention] of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 and this training is being put in place.”

- Was this training ever completed? If so, is there a record of this training (topics covered, when the training took place, who completed this training)?

- Why did senior Council management/management allow this Feral Cat Procedure to be implemented?

- Who was responsible for writing this Procedure?

- Were management/staff aware of legislation?                    

- If Wagga Council were not aware of legislation then how can they be confident that animals were being cared for appropriately at Wagga Pound?

- Why did Wagga Council have a procedure that did not meet the requirements of POCTA and NSW Animal Welfare Code of Practice?

All animals regardless of their temperament should be treated as appropriately as possible and not made to suffer further.

We have found some parallels:  

- That it appears that the two kittens held in the crush cage are not entered on the Impound Register.

- That when the “Frozen Cat incident” occurred there are two cats that disappeared overnight and there is no record of them on the Impound Register. What explanation is there for their disappearance? Why aren’t they entered on the Impound Register? Is one of the missing cats the frozen cat in the freezer?

- That in the holiday period of 2016/17 when Wagga Pound was closed to the public (a period of 10 days) not one new animal was entered on the Impound Register. This is an anomaly and as such should be investigated. From the Impound Registers we obtained under GIPA, this has not occurred before at Wagga Pound - new animals have always been entered on the Impound Register in the holiday period. Why are no new animals entered in the holiday period 2016/17?

-Why did Council’s statistics when we went to media have so many unaccounted for animals? As stated in The Sun Herald article, “…Wagga’s pound has become a virtual black hole for more than 80 dogs and cats that vanished off its books.”

There have been staff changes at Wagga Pound and improvements. We still think however that Wagga Council is accountable for what occurred and that all issues must be properly investigated.