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‘Dismal’ situation at overcrowded kennels

2:04pm Monday 12th May 2008

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OVERFLOWING dog kennels in the city have left council officials pleading for pet-lovers to come forward and give a dog a home.

Four dogs have been put down in two days last week at the council's dog unit and the dire situation is set to get worse - unless the animals crowding the centre are found another home.

Previously, The Press has reported how The RSPCA and animal shelters in and around York have been inundated with calls from panicked pet owners wanting to re-home their animals or have their pets put to sleep.

The RSPCA says the situation is linked to the credit crunch - the fact that people are unable to get mortgages approved or struggle to cope with rising interest rates and fuel and food prices.

Jill McGregor, the senior animal health officer at City of York Council said the city's full animal centres have had a "knock-on" effect at the council's dog unit. At the moment, 15 dogs at the council's dog unit need a home. The overcrowded centre has meant in the last two days alone four dogs have had to been put down.

Ms McGregor fears with more dogs expected at the weekend, that the numbers of dogs put to sleep will surge.

She says the already "dismal" situation will worsen unless responsible people step forward and offer dogs a home.

"This is a knock-on effect from other animal centres in and around York struggling with overflowing kennels," she said.

"All the animal centres are struggling with pet owners wanting to drop off their dogs and the centres can not cope. Pet owners are turning to the council to help, but our centre is only equipped to house 12 dogs - at the moment we have 15 - so we are already too full. We are expecting more dogs at the weekend and if responsible people who can offer dogs a caring and loving home don't come forward soon we are going to have to put more dogs down."

Ms McGregor said in her 13 years working at the unit, she has never seen so many dogs at the centre.

"It has never been this bad," she said. Normally, we house half the amount of dogs that we are currently looking after and we cannot cope."

She said that, like the RSPCA, she thinks that the surge in people getting rid of their pets could be due to the credit crunch.

"Pet owners seem to be suffering from the credit crunch and the animal centres are falling victim to this," she said.

If you want to help give a dog a home, call the council's animal health unit on 01904551530.

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The Stigs Wife, york says...
2:17pm Mon 12 May 08

Surely they can't just put a dog down because it's owners didnt want it?
Thats CRUELTY. Something the RSPCA is trying to prevent??

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The Stigs Wife, york says...
2:18pm Mon 12 May 08

Do you have to pay for dogs from there??

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SilverSurfer, Surfing says...
2:23pm Mon 12 May 08

The Stigs Wife wrote:
Do you have to pay for dogs from there??
There always used to be a charge - I think I paid £50 for ours - but a certain amount was refunded if you had the animal neutered.

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Bemused, York says...
2:33pm Mon 12 May 08

Posted by: The Stigs Wife, york on 2:17pm today
Surely they can't just put a dog down because it's owners didnt want it? Thats CRUELTY. Something the RSPCA is trying to prevent??

If there's no more room for them, and nobody wants to adopt, what do you expect them to do? The cruelty is in abandoning them, not what the RSPCA may have to do humanely in able to cope.

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exYorkist, USA says...
2:35pm Mon 12 May 08

They're seeing similar situations over here; it's tragic. The animals always lose out, and a lot of this is because people just had to have foreign holidays or a new plasma screen TV.

A pet is for life, people.

I already have several cats so I can't take another animal, but I did donate food and cash to a couple of local shelters. If I had a yard I'd foster an animal to ease overcrowding; the council should look into that. A lot of shelters here in the USA have a foster program to relieve overcrowding in their kennels; it also helps to socialize difficult or shy animals. Once I move to a place with a yard (later this summer), I will be applying to foster a dog.

Even if you can't take on an animal permanently, talk to the CYC and see if they'll allow you to foster an animal temporarily. It could mean the difference between life and death for these animals.

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YorkLass, York says...
2:47pm Mon 12 May 08

Credit crunch or not, there is no way i would abandon my cats. Hopefully these poor dogs will be homed, i'd apply to adopt one myself but live in a first floor one bed flat (with 3 cats!) so don't have the room at the moment.

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Tom, York says...
3:00pm Mon 12 May 08

In all seriousness, dog is a delicacy in some parts of Korea and China. Wouldn't it make sense to simply devour unwanted animals rather than wallow in the uneconomic sentimentality these do-gooder "shelters" provide?

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AdmiralN, York Centre says...
3:02pm Mon 12 May 08

The cruelty is in abandoning them


I agree, i cant see how people can abandon their pets, i couldnt give mine up for anything never mind the poxy excuse of the credit crunch. Ive always had dogs and apart from the one i have now they have all been from rescue centres. I would take them in but i work 11 - 12 hour days and i dont think 'er indoors would be too impressed. But ill call in on the way home to see if there is anything else i can do to help.

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The Stigs Wife, york says...
4:06pm Mon 12 May 08

SilverSurfer wrote:
The Stigs Wife wrote: Do you have to pay for dogs from there??
There always used to be a charge - I think I paid £50 for ours - but a certain amount was refunded if you had the animal neutered.
Hmmm...I'll think abhout it then. I have the room, and would love a dog, but im a bit fussy with dogs around my son (he was attacked by a staff last year after it was let off its lead on a field) so unless I know the dog and know its fully trained im kind of iffy.
Might give them a call and have a chat with them, would like to help.

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my opinion, york says...
4:29pm Mon 12 May 08

Ive heard there a bit strict with the rehousing rules, you will find out when they come and do a home visit.

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AdmiralN, York Centre says...
4:54pm Mon 12 May 08

Ive heard there a bit strict with the rehousing rules, you will find out when they come and do a home visit.


Not necessarily strict, i would say that if you are interested its worth ringing them or going to see them. Lets not forget that the dogs are animals and they are not going to be given to every tom, dick & harry that phones up for one.

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Cruddass is a muppett, says...
6:21pm Mon 12 May 08

The checks they do for you to get a dog are more stringent than if you wanted to work in a school.

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The Stigs Wife, york says...
6:47pm Mon 12 May 08

Well I do live in a nice area, and its my own house! And theres only me and its only me and my son who live there!
Well hopefully they'll let me have one!
Will update you!!

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Flash, York says...
8:09pm Mon 12 May 08

Tom
WTF goes thru your head ? Seek therapy.

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Mullarkian, York says...
8:38pm Mon 12 May 08

They'd be better off geting rid of their kids, they're a lot more expensive!

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TG, says...
11:03pm Mon 12 May 08

Not surprised that the kennels are overcrowded with stray dogs. Just take a walk up Micklegate any Friday night.

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Mr_Soul, says...
12:35am Tue 13 May 08

I cannot bear the thought of a healthy dog being PTS. There is no justification whatsoever.

Maybe it's the dog owner in me coming through but when I come home from work and I can hear my pair almost chewing the gate off to say hello it's the best feeling in the world. Better than any human can give as my dogs love is unconditional.

All of the dogs in the stray pounds have the potential to be just as loving and fantastic companions.

I can think of far better reasons for certain humans to be PTS than dogs!

It makes me sick to see dogs dumped just because life has dealt a few bad cards. It's not the dogs f***ing fault!

Sorry for my rant but I felt the need.

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Honey, York says...
9:13am Tue 13 May 08

Mullarkian wrote:
They'd be better off geting rid of their kids, they're a lot more expensive!
Hehe, I like your thinking!! ;-)
We both work full time and couldn't get home at lunchtime as we live too far from work. Otherwise we'd both love to have one or even two!

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Plaggy Terry, Classic Cnuts says...
9:20am Tue 13 May 08

so basically gill mcgregor is advocatiing the ethnic cleansing of dogs simply because there is no room, so much for animal health unit! more like animal death unit.
Ive been told this morning theyve given up trying to speak to the owner of that staffy that bit the 2 year old in scumsville (bellfarm)
as the owner is avoiding them the best they can and ignoring them.great!

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Vic, york says...
10:02am Tue 13 May 08

I work for network rail and at the weekend we had a report of a dog tied to a train in the york freight sidings. Upon inspection it was a young alsation. God known what would have happened if the driver had set off with it in tow. RSPCA Landing Lane said they had no room for it, gave our man a tin of dog food and sent him away. Eventually drove to Oakenshaw near Wakefield who took the dog in but who knows what his fate will be.

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Jason, says...
10:17am Tue 13 May 08

Hehe, I like your
thinking!! ;-)
We both work full time and couldn't get home at lunchtime as we live too far from work. Otherwise we'd both love to have one or even two!


Can't your kids have packed lunches?

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Cari, York says...
10:38am Tue 13 May 08

Wangy wrote:
As long as you don't live in a sh1thole and/or are blatantly going to
use the animal as a guard dog, the home visit will be a breeze. After
that, you can pretty much just go to the kennels, pick a dog and take
it for around £60.
We have a farm, and went to see about adopting a dog from the RSPCA. They just weren't interested. Whilst we said that the dog would live inside, it would spend most of it's time outside having (almost) free reign in one of the fields (it is secure), when we're in the yard, if we're moving implements about then obviosuly wouldn't be free. The answer we got was that they wanted us to keep it indoors and only take them out on a lead for a walk, so considered us as not appropriate (even before they did a visit).

A cousin of mine works with rescue dogs (not RSPCA) and was appalled when she found out. Surely being outside is better than being couped up inside all.most of the day.

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Plaggy Terry, Classic Cnuts says...
10:57am Tue 13 May 08

Yes cari, and id imagine the dog would have been very happy to live with you like that it sounds heaven for a dog.They are very strict im sure.Yet they let a lad i know have a big border collie dog now this is a big dog,in a 2 up 2 down terrarced house with the smallest room you have ever seen the dog cant even turn round between the sofa.arm chair infront of that! and has to walk backwards to get out of room.

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akuma, everywhere says...
11:07am Tue 13 May 08

I'd love to rescue another animal but alas my house is full!

2 cats, 3 snakes (big ones) and 1 fish. Any more and it will have to be reclassified as a zoo!

I do have a £5 a month direct debit to the RSPCA though.

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Tom, York says...
12:15pm Tue 13 May 08

Flash wrote:
Tom WTF goes thru your head ? Seek therapy.
Sorry if offends Flash; it did occur to me such a post would offend a few western sensibilities - and stomachs! Perhaps a compromise would be unwanted dogs being used as food for those animals lucky enough to have to loving homes. For example, that little white dog in the picture looks plump and healthy enough in terms of fodder...

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Cruddass is a muppett, says...
8:14pm Tue 13 May 08

Wangy wrote:
And you'd be denied both.
You'd be denied a job at McDonalds.

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John, York says...
4:05pm Wed 14 May 08

In my experience these council jobsworths and the RSPCA are only interested in weilding power and enforcing petty regulations and are not remotely interested in doing anything to help animals. Last year when I tried to adopt a dog via the York council dog warden (A very big border collie cross, the one Plaggy Terry mentions perhaps? If so I'd be very interested to know where he is now...) I was told I was unsuitable on the grounds that I'm an ethical vegan and opposed to castration and vaccination. The fact that I'd previously adopted two dogs through dog rescue charities and that they were perfectly happy with my ethical position counted for nothing "Rules are rules" was all I could get out of them. The person I spoke to on the phone (Jane Taylor though I suspect it may have been Gill McGregor using a false name) even went so far as to say that people living in urban areas should not be allowed to keep border collies at all. Even though they had a perfectly good home for him to go to they would not relent and took him to the RSPCA Animals home instead. When I spoke to RSPCA Animals Home manager Elaine Murdoch I was greeted with even more hostility "All you animal rights people do is go around punching horses in the face" she ranted. I thought this was a bit odd when you consider that one of the Animals Home trustees (Terry Horner) used to spend a great deal of his time fundraising for radical animal liberation organisations. When she'd calmed down a bit she did at least go on to tell me that the council kennels were "Absolutely dreadful" which was pretty much as I suspected. My advice to anyone wanting to adopt an animal is to do it privately through friends and personal contacts and forget about dog wardens, the RSPCA of similar animal walfare charities as they are not worth the hassle.

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Plaggy Terry, Classic Cnuts says...
10:06pm Thu 15 May 08

Jon if your reading this i can update you,,, get in touch,, please.

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John, York says...
1:02am Fri 16 May 08

...and if you're reading this Plaggy Terry, you can contact me at john.hughes29@yahoo.
co.uk

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Comments are closed on this article.

Gill McGregor, the city council's senior animal health officer, who fears dogs in overcrowded kennels may be put down Gill McGregor, the city council's senior animal health officer, who fears dogs in overcrowded kennels may be put down

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