Increase in number of impounded strays

Press, 16 August 1988, Page 4

Increase in number of impounded strays

Hard times and the cost of dog ownership have been blamed for an increase in strays which has left Christchurch’s Dogwatch organisation straining to cope. The organisation advertised on Saturday that it was unable to accept any more dogs until further notice. The decision was made at a meeting last week.

A founder of Dogwatch, Mrs Estelle Win, said up to 20 households took dogs into care for the organisation.

“It is a sign of the times. We have been under a lot of stress. This year is particularly bad with dogs being turned out, impounded and abandoned.

“It has always been this way but it has increased.”

Mrs Win said some of the dogs taken from the pounds have been with Dogwatch members for months.

“We just cannot get them homes.”

People cannot take any more dogs, she said.

“There is nowhere for the dogs to go if we take them out of pounds. It is a tragedy.”

Mrs Win blames the increase in abandoned dogs on hard economic times and the high cost of keeping dogs, including registration and veterinary bills. This, she said, had also contributed to a fall-off in people seeking abandoned dofe offered by the group.

The dog control supervisor for the Christchurch City Council, Mr Mike Shaw, said it appeared the council would impound between 1700 and 1800 dogs this year.

"We have had a marked increase in the number of dogs being impounded this year.” The number of dogs impounded was up 29 per cent in spite of a reduction in dog ranger staff from four to three earlier this year. Mr Shaw says the cost of registering, feeding and caring for dogs has contributed to the rise. “I think it is a reflection of the economic times — the desperation of people being to