Moorabool bucks ‘ruff’ impound trend

By Lachlan Ellis

A record number of dogs have arrived at pounds across Victoria over a 12-month period, but Moorabool has ‘fur-tunately’ been an exception to the sad statistics.

A surge in surrendered dogs began just before Christmas last year and has shown no sign of slowing down, with close to 150 dogs a month this year compared to 50 dogs towards the end of 2021.

RSPCA Victoria has reported this month that its shelters are operating at capacity for the first time since 2017, due to a number of factors including “fewer reclaims of stray and lost animals that come to RSPCA via councils, more animals with behaviours that require retraining prior to adoption and a decline in adoption applications”.

“For us, it really is a perfect storm that is impacting our ability to move animals into their forever homes, which we know is the best place for them,” RSPCA Victoria Animal Care Manager, Nadia Peiris, said.

“In fact, while dogs and cats make up the majority of the animals in our care, RSPCA Victoria is currently operating at capacity for all animals. The public can help us by coming into our shelters to adopt dogs, cats, rabbits or guinea pigs.”

To ease pressure on its shelters, RSPCA Victoria ran ‘Hundred Dollar Hounds’ on Saturday 20 August,  adopting out microchipped, vaccinated, desexed and behaviour checked dogs for just $100.

But Moorabool Shire’s figures for dog impoundments have not skyrocketed in the way many other Victorian LGAs’ have, with Council CEO Derek Madden praising local dog owners for helping Moorabool avoid the issue.

“The figures on impoundments for dogs this June/July are very similar to last year’s June/July figures. It’s great we’re not seeing an increase in dogs being surrendered as other parts of the state are. We thank all the very responsible pet owners in our Shire,” Mr Madden told the Moorabool News.

“We have had some instances of surrendered dogs being hard to rehome, so if you are thinking of giving a rescue dog a ‘fur-ever’ home, please check in with us as we may have your next pet right here waiting for you.”

To pick up a pet at Council’s domestic animal pound in Maddingley, call 5366 7100 to book an appointment.