SPCA outraged at dog deaths

BARRY HARCOURT/Southland Times

LAST RIDE: An Invercargill City Council animal control officer loads one of six rottweiler puppies into his vehicle yesterday before taking them away to be put down.

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The SPCA is appalled the Invercargill City Council killed six "harmless" rottweiler puppies yesterday because of their breed, while the dogs' aggressive mother was returned to its owners for a fee.

The Southland Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals is also upset it was effectively used as a "death row for dogs" after the council housed the puppies in its kennels last week.

Council chief executive Richard King said the dogs were impounded last Tuesday after the mother was found barking at schoolchilden in Elles Rd as the pups wandered around unchecked.

The pups were given a lethal injection by animal control yesterday because the council considered rottweilers dangerous, Mr King said, despite them only being six weeks old.

However, the puppies mother, which was now classed as "menacing" by the council, was given back to its owners because they paid an $80 fee, he said.

It was also the opinion of the council's animal rangers that the puppies owners were not good owners, he said.

Royal New Zealand SPCA national chief executive Robyn Kippenberger was disgusted the council went ahead with the killings despite its offer to find new homes for the puppies or move them out of Invercargill.

"This council's way of deciding what lives and what dies is appalling."

"The fact they can wrench these puppies away from an SPCA that's prepared to look after them, and merrily execute them is rubbish," she said.

Ms Kippenberger said there was plenty of research that disproved the idea rottweilers were inherently dangerous.

"It's senseless killing because if they're put in a home with good owners then they're harmless," she said.

Mr King said the decision to destroy the puppies was also based on the fact the owners did not want them back.

"In general, rottweilers tend to be quite dangerous dogs. The puppies might look nice and fluffy at that age but they don't stay that way for long," he said.

"In this particular case, we felt the SPCA could not find suitable homes for them."

Mr King stood by the council's dog control policy despite the fact a dog it considered to be menacing was returned to its owners.

"The dog was returned on the condition it is microchiped, kept in a secure environment and muzzled when outside."

Desexing was not a requirement but was under consideration, he said.

Mr King said he was not made aware of Ms Kippenberger's offer to move the puppies from Invercargill until after they were dead.

He was not aware any potential owners had been found by the Southland SPCA, he said.

However, Southland SPCA chairwoman Rachel Hucklebridge said two people offered to take a puppy each last week but were turned down by the council.

She was concerned about the impact on her staff if the council continued to use its kennels to house animals before killing them, she said.

"I'm very concerned about putting our staff through that sort of torture.

"We're there to save animals and won't be turned into a death row."

Mr King said the council had put down about one dog per month for as long as he could remember from those it paid to house at the SPCA.

The Southland, Gore and Queenstown Lakes District Councils all said they did not have a policy of destroying potentially dangerous animal breeds when contacted by The Southland Times yesterday.