Council dog pound

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33418, 27 December 1973, Page 8

Council dog pound

Sir.—Recently I lost, my dog. a purebred Golden Retriever. When the dog had been missing for two days I rang the City Council pound and was told they had no dogs of the above breed in their care. After advertisiing, unsuccessfully, in the 'newspaper, my husband visited the pound to make sure. Our dog was there, had been for the whole four days she was missing, but was listed as a Golden Labrador-cross. The result; of the pound staff’s j I ignorance of common dog I breeds, was unnecessary ad- , vertising expense, and two . extra days boarding fees at 80 cents a day. When we got t the dog back, she was dirty, had lost weight, and was in 1 poor condition, and has since •I been very sick. Are the > people running the pound,-in > any way, qualified to recog--1 nise various dog breeds, are » conditions at the pound sub- . ject to S.P.C.A. inspection . and approval, and what care, i food. etc., do the dogs receive for 80 cents a day? — i Yours, etc.. 1 CONCERNED DOG OWNER t December 13, 1973. 1 [The general manager and ' Town Clerk (Mr J. H. Gray) replies: "Because of a lack Lof specific information supplied by the correspondent definite comment on the dog 1 in question cannot be made. - It appears that this dog was • not wearing an official disc Tor collar, otherwise the - owner would have been noti;l fled of the impounding by - telephone the same day or - b'- letter the following day. Further, if the dog was dirty e when it was returned home, e it would also have arrived at i the shelter in this condition. - Pens at. the shelter are of s concrete construction, are e graded and drained and are J washed out and disinfected ' each dav. It is also not un-

[common for dogs to refuse fc.-id when placed in a 'foreign environment. It cannot be over-emphasised that dog owners have a responsibility to ensure that their dogs are not permitted in a public place unless under proper control. It is the lack of proper control by owners That makes the dog shelter a. necessity.”! Clirijilmas Sir. —As an Anglican I was [dismayed that our bishop, ofj all people, should again refer’ to the day of our Lord’s birth as “the first Christmas.” The (word "Christmas” is nowhere! mentioned in the Bible; neither our Lord nor His! disciples instructed us to keep His birthday — which was certainly not on December 25. It is significant that we. were given definite instructions to; observe the occasion of His; death at the time of the : Passover when He. became 1 [“the Lamb of God.” We are iasked to keep in memory His' igreat sacrifice by partaking of the symbols of bread and wine until His coming again. Would it not be better toi admit that Christmas was’ [originally a pagan festival dating back to Babylonian times, and that it became a man-made Christian festival [in the fourth century as a [matter of expediency?— Yours etc., OLYMPUS | December 25. 1973.