Molly's story shows what can be done

When Molly (pictured) was in a cage at the City Council dog shelter she was almost uncontrollable and destined to be destroyed.

But Molly was reprieved when someone took her home and now she is happy, contented, obedient and a good guard dog when needed.

Not all dogs get the chance to make the transition from the dog shelter to good homes, but more and more are doing just that these days.

The shelter was opened 20 years ago and today an average of 200 dogs a month spends time there.

Some owners soon claim their dogs, new owners take others, but for others it is death row.

The Council's animal control section employs eight officers. They resolve many dog-related complaints and issues, impound stray and unwanted dogs. Also, there are wandering cattle and other livestock to round up at times.

The officers visit local kindergartens and schools to teach children about bite prevention, animal care and handling, responsible pet ownership and laws relating relate to dogs.

The outcome of an efficiency team review has increased the service to seven days a week, with emergency investigation daily after 6pm. Many hours are spent following up unpaid dog registration fees; this extra cost impacts on the overall dog fees for all dog owners.

Owners claim 60 per cent of dogs and about 30% are taken into new homes. In the past three months 130 dogs have found new owners.

"The situation is, happily, improving all the time," says shelter manager Rex Woolley. A regular article on stray dogs in "The Mail" newspaper has helped immeasurably.

Ten per cent of dogs that end up in the shelter are destroyed there. Many of these are pit-bull terriers or crosses that cannot be re-housed back into the community. Dogs that bark incessantly or wander persistently are rarely re-housed either. Not all that long ago 25% of the dogs were put down at the shelter.

Anyone who wants a dog needs only to go to the shelter and make a selection. If the property of the potential new owner is well-fenced and the $70 full-year registration fee is paid, the dog can go home. The fee is adjusted for part years.

The law states that the dogs are held for seven days at the shelter for owners to claim them and, on the eighth if they are not claimed, they can be adopted back into the community - or a vet destroys them.

The fee for an owner to retrieve a registered dog is $45 impounding fee, plus $7 a day for food and maintenance. If a dog is returned to the same owner a second time within a year it costs $70 impounding fee, plus the food bill.
And for a third indiscretion the fee goes up to $100, plus the food.

For some people dogs are not man's best friends and they end up discarded before being taken to the shelter. Now more and more are finding a second chance with new owners.