Fears dog dumping season has begun

A litter of puppies left for dead at a Christchurch building site has animal welfare agencies worried the dog-dumping season has begun. Well, that's a big statement just because of one incident!! I guess it sells newspapers.

The seven terrier-cross pups were left in a cardboard box near a rubbish skip in Burwood yesterday and taken to animal adoption agency Dogwatch by a construction worker. You'd think that they would at least try to sell them or given 'em away. But then again, who knows.-- with the present dog laws, maybe they were fearful of getting a fine for something. The law doesn't really allow for grey areas.

Dogwatch manager Pam Howard said warm spring weather often prompted an increase in the number of female dogs on heat, and a related rise in the number of abandoned pups. She said the pups were six weeks old and too young to be separated from their mother. Another couple of weeks, and with this publicity, they'll find a good one. Good on DogWatch to be there for our animals!

"They are beautiful wee puppies and could so easily have been placed if the owners had made any effort. There was absolutely no need to dispose of them like that," she said. They disposed of them perhaps, maybe, because they (owners) were in a bad situation at home. Who knows, they may have been in a violent situation and couldn't seek this most favourable situation.

It's difficult to judge people's act when you don 't know their situation. I'm just trying to see both sides, which the media doesn't do such a good job of.

The Humane Society in Ottawa doesn't judge a person's reason for letting their dog go. If they did, maybe people would dump them like they did in Christchurch.

They had all been given names – Flikka, Fudgie, Filius, Felix, Fergus, Frodo and Frankie. The pups would be cared for by Dogwatch for another fortnight until they were old enough to be separated and given to caring homes, Howard said.

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Canterbury manager Geoff Sutton said dog-dumping was mindless act".