Several impounded dogs due to be rescued by a shelter have instead been shot dead to prevent volunteers at an animal shelter from traveling to pick up the animals.
ANGUS THOMPSON: Several impounded dogs due to be rescued by a shelter have instead been shot dead by a rural council in New South Wales (NSW) under its interpretation of COVID-19 restrictions, alarming animal activists and prompting a government probe. Bourke Shire Council, in the state’s north-west, killed the dogs to prevent volunteers at a Cobar-based animal shelter from traveling to pick up the animals last week, according to council’s watchdog, the Office of Local Government (OLG)… A source who is familiar with the arrangement said the shelter volunteers are distressed and had COVID-safe measures in place to handle the dogs, one of which was a new mother.
According to NSW Health, there have been no recent locally acquired COVID-19 cases in Cobar, although fragments of the virus have been found in the area’s sewerage system. The Office of Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock, who has previously faced questions in Parliament over the shooting of animals in council pounds, did not comment. However, animal liberation campaigner Lisa Ryan called for an urgent investigation. “We are deeply distressed and completely appalled by this callous dog shooting and we totally reject council’s unacceptable justifications that this killing was apparently undertaken as part of a COVID- safe plan,” Ms Ryan, Animal Liberation’s regional campaign manager, said…
“OLG has been informed that the council decided to take this course of action to protect its employees and community, including vulnerable Aboriginal populations, from the risk of COVID-19 transmission,” a spokesman from the government agency said. The spokesman said the agency was examining the circumstances of the incident to find out whether companion animal and cruelty prevention laws had been broken…
Asked during budget estimates in March whether she knew about councils shooting animals to euthanize them, Ms Hancock said she didn’t… Greens animal welfare spokeswoman Abigail Boyd said the government had undertaken no action since the issues had been raised with Ms Hancock during the parliamentary hearing. “While the Liberal-National government twiddles its thumbs on animal welfare issues, more animals are being killed,” she said. SOURCE…
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