SPCA Auckland Ph: 09 256 7300 | Need Help & Advice?

 

---

“The court has now ordered the forfeiture of the dog to the care of SPCA Auckland. The Society is hopeful that in time when a full recovery is made the dog will be able to be adopted to a loving and responsible home,” says Kerridge.

For more information, please contact:
Bob Kerridge
Executive Director SPCA Auckland
P: 09 256 7300
M: 0274 959 449
E: Bob.Kerridge@spca.org.nz

---

Adopted dog finds new owners 6 km away in the dark

Initially Jane didn’t want to adopt Ollie, a four-year-old golden retriever with what she describes as ‘issues’. But in August 2011, her husband met the dog at SPCA Auckland while visiting on business and asked Jane to welcome Ollie into their home.

“We already had Simba, our 12-year-old labrador, and I didn’t want him to get pushed to the side,” says Jane. “But my husband reckoned we ‘needed’ Ollie and I got out-voted by the rest of the family.”

It took Ollie a while to trust his new family but now that he does, he doesn’t like being separated from them – a fact that was emphatically illustrated in January this year when Jane and her husband were at a party in Te Puru Heights, Auckland.

“All was good. Men were in the ‘man cave’ and girls were sinking bubbles,” says Jane.

“But about 11pm Ollie turned up in the garden muddy and panting. He has never been to the street, let alone to the house before. My husband and I accused each other of playing a trick. But no – Ollie had broken out of our house, navigated the six kilometres from Beachlands to Te Puru Heights, to a house that he had never seen, and found us.

“I think we can officially say he’s part of the family now.”

It’s a stunning example of how an animal with a chequered past can learn to trust and love the people who adopt them, says SPCA Auckland CEO Christine Kalin.

“Animals are capable of forming special bonds with humans – even if they haven’t had the best start in life,” says Christine. “Jane and her family have done a wonderful job of welcoming Ollie into their lives and Ollie’s really made himself one of the family. He’s an excellent ambassador for the SPCA adoption service.”

Jane says Ollie still has a few issues – he is afraid of big trucks, men in high-visibility vests, and fireworks – but she’s extremely happy with him.

“When we first had him he wouldn’t make eye contact and rarely wagged his tail. Now he knows we’re his ‘pack’ he feels safe. Dogs need to know that someone is in charge and he’s got that now. It means he can relax and ‘be himself’.

“The other day we were out walking and we could see some people having a barbeque. There was lots of smoke and, when we got about 100 metres away, Ollie stopped and would not budge. I persuaded him to walk on but two steps later he sat down again. He looked from me to the smoke as if to say: ‘Mum, there’s danger, let’s not go there.’

“I love my dog.”

For more information, please contact:
Christine Kalin
CEO SPCA Auckland
P: 09 256 2528
M: 0274 201 598
E: christine.kalin@spca.org.nz

---

 

A Great Barrier Island man pleaded guilty yesterday in the Auckland District Court for neglecting two dogs to such a degree that the SPCA Auckland Inspector who found them estimates the dogs were just days from death.

One of the dogs – now named ‘Cassie’ – has made a miracle recovery and is about to be put up for adoption by SPCA Auckland. The other dog was sadly too damaged to recover and eventually had to be put down.

Ricky Hauraki Llewellyn Griffiths, 28, builder, pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to provide proper and sufficient food to the two dogs. Judge Frazer sentenced him to eight years of disqualification from owning dogs, reparations of $1876.36, and 100 hours of community work.

SPCA Auckland Chief Inspector Vicki Border says it’s a pretty good result – particularly the eight-year dog-owning ban – but the dogs have already paid a far higher price.

“The state of the dogs when they were rescued by SPCA Auckland was horrific – one of the worst cases of neglect I have seen in all my years as an inspector,” says Border.

“One of the dogs, who we have called ‘Cassie’, has made a wonderful recovery over the last few months and is about to be put up for adoption late next week.”

The story began in mid-October 2011 when two emaciated dogs were discovered on Great Barrier Island following a tip-off from the public. Both dogs were found in the bush, chained to dilapidated kennels and surrounded by faeces. Border estimates the dogs had been without food for weeks and were just days from death.

“Someone had just tied them up and left them to die,” she says. “They were immediately removed to the SPCA Auckland Animal Village for emergency medical treatment.”

It was touch and go for the first few days. Often in cases this serious the animals don’t survive because too much damage has already been done. One of the dogs didn’t make it, but Cassie did.

“After just 21 days in SPCA Auckland care, Cassie was like a different dog,” says Border. “She is now well on her way to being the happy and healthy dog she deserves to be. We’re putting her up for adoption late next week and we’re confident she’ll find a loving forever home.

People interested in adopting Cassie must fill out an SPCA Auckland dog adoption form, which can be downloaded by clicking here. Although Cassie will not be available for general public viewing at the SPCA Auckland Animal Village, people who want to adopt her can fill out the form and a viewing can then be arranged.

Cassie is a very laid back, two-year-old, pointer-cross dog who loves people and is good with kids.

“I would describe her as extremely affectionate and trusting, which is amazing considering what she’s been through,” says Border.

“She loves being with people – wherever you are, she’ll be happy to be there too. She will be good in a family situation and clearly has lived with kids before, so all ages of kids would be OK. Because she’s a young, relatively big dog, she’ll need a decent walk every day. If you’ve already got dogs, that’s OK – she’s great with other dogs, big and small.”

For more information, please contact:
Christine Kalin
CEO SPCA Auckland
P: 09 256 2528
M: 0274 201 598
E: christine.kalin@spca.org.nz

---

 

 

SPCA Auckland is calling for members of the public to help identify the person who dumped a severely emaciated dog in Manurewa on Friday 27 January.

The dog was dumped in a cardboard box at the end of a driveway in Alfriston Road, Manurewa last Friday. The owner of the property called the SPCA Auckland 24-hour animal rescue hotline at 2pm that day and SPCA Inspector Andre Williams attended the property immediately.

The property owner had taken the dog and wrapped it in blankets, as the dog was in a terrible condition, cold and shivering, emaciated and very weak, says Williams.

“The dog was in such a severe state that it couldn’t stand, its bones were showing through the skin, its claws were seriously overgrown, and it was generally in a terrible state.”

SPCA Chief Executive Officer, Christine Kalin says the case is an absolutely disgusting example of animal cruelty and neglect.

“This level of abuse cannot go unpunished. Our inspectors are investigating the case to try and bring those responsible to justice. We are determined to find those responsible for this despicable act of animal cruelty and abuse.”

SPCA Auckland is now appealing for any witnesses who may have seen someone dumping the box in the vicinity of Alfriston Road in Manurewa to call SPCA Auckland on 09 256 7300.

The cardboard box has been sent away for forensic testing and SPCA Auckland hopes some fingerprints or other evidence can be obtained from it.

SPCA Auckland is empowered under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 to protect all animals from abuse, neglect, and abandonment, and to prosecute people who break this law. To report such cases, please phone 09 256 7300.

For more information, please contact:
Christine Kalin
CEO SPCA Auckland
P: 09 256 2528
M: 0274 201 598
E: christine.kalin@spca.org.nz

---

 

 

Not taking action to save an animal from obvious pain can land you in court facing serious charges and liable for reparations.

SPCA Auckland won a case on Tuesday 13 December 2011 in which the defendant, Joshua Skinner, was found guilty of “failing to ensure that [an] animal received treatment to alleviate any unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress being suffered by the animal” under Section 11 of the Animal Welfare Act 1999.

Behind the legal jargon lies an appalling case of neglect that should serve as a warning to negligent animal owners everywhere: SPCA Auckland can and will prosecute you if you fail to provide necessary veterinary care for your animals.

It started on 8 October 2008 when an SPCA Inspector, acting on a tip-off, attended a property in Mangatangi and found an emaciated dog lying in the garden.
“The dog was very lethargic and unable to hold his head up for more than a few seconds,” says SPCA Auckland Chief Inspector Vicki Border. “The inspector had to carry him to her vehicle.”

The inspector took the dog to SPCA Auckland where he was examined by a veterinarian. The dog initially weighed only 14 kilograms but soon vomited up several large pieces of meat and his weight dropped to just 13.4 kilograms. He was placed on a drip and x-rays were taken to check for any internal obstruction.

The dog died overnight and was sent to Gribbles Laboratory for a necropsy. Results of the necropsy found that at least one week prior the dog had swallowed a bamboo skewer which had broken into three pieces. The pieces of skewer had pierced through the stomach and intestines, causing chronic vomiting, peritonitis and twisting of the stomach which was the ultimate cause of death.

“The veterinarian concluded that the dog would have endured significant pain and suffering over an extended period of time and that any lay person would have realised that the dog was in need of veterinary treatment,” says Border.

The defendant, Joshua Skinner, failed to show up at Court a number of times but was finally located in Te Awamutu.
At the Te Awamutu District Court on Tuesday, Judge Ruth condemned the inaction of the defendant to obtain veterinary treatment for an animal that had obviously suffered great pain over a prolonged period of time.

Judge Ruth sentenced the defendant to 300 hours community work, reparations of $951.30 payable to the Auckland SPCA at a rate of $50 per week.
“While it’s good that we have obtained a conviction, nothing can make up for the unnecessary suffering the dog endured,” says Border. “We can’t be everywhere at once – we need members of the public to keep their eyes and ears open and call us if they see or hear an animal in distress, particularly over the holiday period when many animals are simply abandoned.”

SPCA Auckland is empowered under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 to protect all animals from abuse, neglect, and abandonment, and to prosecute people who break this law. To report such cases, please phone 09 256 7300.

For more information, please contact:
Christine Kalin
CEO SPCA Auckland
P: 09 256 2528
M: 0274 201 598
E: christine.kalin@spca.org.nz

---

 

 

SPCA Auckland Inspectors investigate thousands of complaints about animal cruelty every year – but the organisation needs members of the public to keep their eyes and ears open to spot cases of abuse, particularly over the holiday season.

Here’s an example of how ordinary people can help us save lives.

In mid-October this year when SPCA Auckland Chief Inspector Vicki Border followed up a call from a member of the public about an extremely skinny dog in a remote area, she came upon a horrific sight.

The dog, Cassie*, had been without food for weeks. She was malnourished and dehydrated. Border estimates she was just three days from death.

“Someone had just tied her up and left her to die,” says Border. “It’s been years since I’ve seen a case of neglect this serious. I immediately removed her from the property and took her to the SPCA Auckland Animal Village for emergency medical treatment.”

It was touch and go for the first few days. Often in cases this serious the animal doesn’t make it because too much damage has already been done. But not in Cassie’s case.

“After just 21 days in SPCA Auckland care, Cassie was like a different dog,” says Border. “I had to carry her in here that first day – she was so weak she could barely stand. Now she is out enjoying daily walks and running around in the local park.

“Often when a dog has been denied food for so long, they can develop serious trust issues and become extremely food aggressive. Thankfully this has not been the case with Cassie.”

Cassie is currently recovering in foster care in preparation for potential adoption further down the track. Meanwhile, SPCA Auckland is taking action to prosecute Cassie’s owners, and expects the case to go before the courts in 2012.

“Cassie’s story has a happy ending but too many don’t. We can’t be everywhere at once – we need members of the public to keep their eyes and ears open and call us if they see or hear an animal in distress,” says Border.

SPCA Auckland is empowered under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 to protect all animals from abuse, neglect, and abandonment, and to prosecute people who break this law. To report such cases, please phone 09 256 7300.

*Cassie is not the dog’s original name – it has been changed for legal reasons.

For more information, please contact:

Rona Booth
Marketing & Fundraising Manager, SPCA Auckland
P: 09 256 7311
M: 022 098 5476
E: rona.booth@spca.org.nz

---

 

 

Spare a thought for your pets this Guy Fawkes – they can be seriously distressed by the loud noises and bright flashes of fireworks.

Here’s SPCA Auckland’s Guy Fawkes top tips for pet owners:

1.Stay home with your pet – they’ll be less stressed with someone they trust close by.

2.Keep them indoors – where they won’t see the flashes and the bangs will be muffled. Close doors and windows and draw the curtains.

3.Put a collar and registration tag on your dog – if your dog panics and bolts, it will help rescuers reunite you.

4.Move horses and farm animals away from fireworks – and make sure all fences are secure. Stable horses where possible.

5.Take special care of elderly or nervous pets – consult your vet for the best advice on keeping them calm.

If your animal goes missing, please contact your local vet clinics and SPCA, and register your lost pet at www.petsonthenet.co.nz.

For more information, please contact:

Bob Kerridge
Executive Director
SPCA Auckland
P: +64 9 256 7300
E: bob.kerridge@spca.org.nz

---

 

 

Topics to include, enforceable standards, outlawing tail docking, early bans on battery farming, shelter for farm animals, tougher penalties, limiting animal experiments etc.

Seven potential areas of animal law reform will be up for consideration at an Auckland conference next week.

Agriculture Minster, the Hon. David Carter, is to join legal experts in discussing suggested changes to the 1999 Animal Welfare Act, ahead of a formal review of the legislation in 2012.

Next week’s session, billed as The Great Debate, will commence at 3.45 pm on Tuesday 1st November and will form part of the 22nd annual NZ Companion Animal Conference, to be held at the Stamford Plaza Hotel.

Joining the Minister, will be MAF Director of Animal Welfare, David Bayvel, barrister and journalist, Catriona MacLennan and  Queen’s Counsel, John Haigh, as well as Russell McVeigh partner, Mike Heron, and barrister, Anita Killeen, who is also a director of SPCA Auckland.

The session is to be facilitated by Bob Kerridge, as Patron and spokesperson for the New Zealand Companion Animal Council (NZCAC), the organisation holding the conference.

“We’re delighted the Minister will be able to join us, as he’s shown a marked awareness of animal welfare issues and of the need for our legislation to reflect the high priority New Zealanders increasingly give to such matters,” says Mr Kerridge.
“It’s also great to be able to bring such a respected collection of legal minds together.  All the lawyers on our panel have had extensive experience of cases relating to the Animal Welfare Act and their contributions to the debate will be eminently worth listening to,” he says.     

Heading the list of topics for discussion will be the enforcement of codes of welfare for specific animal species.  The NZCAC has played a key role in the development of some of these codes, including those for dogs and cats.

Each code contains minimum standards that are scrutinised in depth by MAF and signed-off by the Minister. Yet, despite this robust and exacting process of codification, such standards are not currently enforceable at law.       

Second on the list of topics will be the outlawing of cosmetic tail docking for dogs. The NZCAC’s considered opinion is that tail docking is a major surgical procedure, which should only be allowed for health reasons and on a veterinarian’s advice.

Thirdly, the gathering is to discuss the limiting of custodial care provisions for animals that are the subject of court proceedings under the 1999 Act.  Currently, the SPCA can be required to hold onto such animals for two or even three years, until the end of a trial. This prevents animals being adopted out or looked after in other appropriate ways.

“Fourthly, and perhaps most controversially, we’ll be discussing the abolition of battery farming, through the termination of exemptions to the Five Freedoms that are integral to the Animal Welfare Act,” says Mr Kerridge.
The Five Freedoms comprise freedom from hunger and thirst, from discomfort and inadequate shelter, from disease and injury and from distress and pain, as well as the freedom to display normal behaviour.

“Paradoxically, although the 1999 Act is largely predicated on these principles, some of the welfare codes created under the Act allow for shockingly inhumane exceptions, such as sow stalls, battery egg production and the intensive raising of broiler chickens.

“In the NZCAC’s view, these cruel practices should be banned at the earliest possible point.  We believe that a great many New Zealanders would support such moves,” Bob Kerridge adds.

The fifth item up for discussion is the establishment and enforcement of minimum standards of shelter for farm animals, in both winter and summer conditions.  Here again, Mr Kerridge believes there is a growing public consensus in favour of change.

Sixthly, the panel will look at proposals for tougher penalties against repeat offenders in animal abuse cases.  The NZCAC favours increased penalties for recidivists, including mandatory bans on animal ownership for those convicted.

“Our seventh topic will be the perceived need to tighten the criteria for allowing animals to be used in scientific experiments.

“The Animal Welfare Act defines a number of categories for animal experiments, including those causing severe pain and very severe pain.  We believe that the bar should be set very high indeed before experimentation is allowed in either of these two categories,” Mr Kerridge says.  

The NZCAC brings together a wide range of organisations and individuals connected with animals, including welfare bodies, veterinarians, academic researchers, control agencies, breeder organisations and interested members of the public.

 A key NZCAC focus is on understanding, promoting and celebrating the human-animal bond and the benefits of companion animal ownership.  Earlier this year, the organisation published a groundbreaking survey, which revealed the high importance New Zealanders give to pet ownership and to animal welfare in general.

The survey, conducted  with a representative sample of 1,570 adults between 7th and 11th April 2011,   placed New Zealand’s  companion animal population at approximately 5 million, compared to just 4.4 million for humans. It also revealed 68% of New Zealand households as owning at least one pet, a higher percentage than in any comparable country.

Of those polled, 43% believed that animal welfare and protection should receive more attention, whilst a large majority of owners said that they regarded their companion animals as members of the family

Bob Kerridge describes the survey results as clear proof that New Zealanders, as a nation, place great value on animals and are firmly opposed to cruelty towards them.

“We believe the proposals we’ll be looking at with the Minister and our distinguished legal guests all conform with the thinking of a very large percentage of the public.  Although our conference will be simply an arena for discussion, we would certainly hope that it makes an eventual contribution to substantive legal change,” he says.

The theme of this year’s NZCAC conference is The Joyous World of Animals.  The gathering’s keynote speaker will be best-selling author, Jonathan Balcombe, whose latest book, The Exultant Ark,  denies that Nature can simply be summed up as ‘red in tooth and claw’ and points instead to the pervasive joys  that animals experience through play, touch, food and sex.

Dr Balcombe, who is based in the United States but spent part of his childhood in New Zealand, is also a respected scholar and a campaigner against battery farming and the use of animals in experiments.

The conference commences on the afternoon of Monday 31st October at 1.00 pm and concludes at 5.45 pm the following day.

For further information, please contact:

Bob Kerridge
Spokesperson
The New Zealand Companion Animal Council
DDI:  09 256 7306
After Hours: 09 528 9940
Mobile: 027 4959 449
Email: bob.kerridge@spca.org.nz

Home   ·   SPCA in Action   ·   Adopt   ·   Donate   ·   Get Involved   ·   Animal Care   ·   Shop   ·   News   ·   About Us

©2012 Auckland SPCA, Inc. All rights reserved.   ·   Website Design by Silicon Dream