Increasing numbers of stray and abandoned cats at Echuca’s McKenzie Rd animal shelter are at the centre of discussions with the state government as the shire considers enlarging its facility.
State Member for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell met with the shire late last year and has followed up the issue in parliament by asking the government for details of its financial support for promoting responsible pet ownership.
Ms Maxwell asked Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas to provide details on how much the government invested into promoting responsible pet ownership in Campaspe Shire.
Campaspe Shire Mayor Chrissy Weller, who attended the December 8 meeting along with chief executive Declan Moore and several other councillors, said it was a difficult situation for the council.
She said council, under Victorian legislative conditions, was required to house animals on an indefinite basis.
The McKenzie Rd animal shelter does not quite have the “no vacancy” sign hanging from the front gate at this point, but the facility is approaching the point that future planning needs to be done for development of the shelter.
“We need to consider how to safely house our animals,” Cr Weller said.
“The concern of council is that the legislation requires us to look after any animals that are left at the shelter, for an undefined period.
“That is where the concern is. If they are rated by the vets to be safe to re-home, then they stay at the shelter until they get re-homed.
“We have no right to get rid of them. It’s a really hard one.”
Cr Weller, who has a farming background, said the council was hoping for financial support if the legislation forced it to re-develop the site.
“What we were discussing with Tania Maxwell was the fact we will need to do an extension on the building this year (at a cost of more than $500,000),” Cr Weller said.
“That is what is needed to cover the amount of pets we have in the premises and the numbers predicted to arrive in the future.”
Council forwards a portion of the cost from the registration of every dog and cat in the shire to the state government, a pool of funds which is supposed to be used by the government to promote responsible ownership and fund research into domestic animal management.
Meanwhile, Cr Weller said the animal shelter population was “getting to its maximum level”.
“We need to work out how this can be better managed,” she said.
“It is a very important issue. We are talking about animal health, about the protection of our animals and how we can do the right thing.”
Regulations surrounding the operation of animal shelters in Victoria mean there are significant costs associated with the operation of the McKenzie Rd facility, somewhere in the order of $1 million.
“They live in a hotel, really. It is a pretty good set-up. We are responsible for feeding them, staffing levels and the associated care,” Cr Weller said.
“It is a seven-day-a-week job, you just can’t stop feeding them on Saturday and Sunday.”
Cr Weller said she was aware not all councils had a shelter like Campaspe’s.
“Other communities have privately-owned ones. The facility at Campaspe used to be outsourced, but it became more cost effective back then for council to run it themselves, rather than outsource it,” she said.
“But we are at the point now where we need to look at how to manage these animals.
“We are waiting for a response from the state government.”
Cr Weller said the Campaspe site was a well-managed shelter, but compliance issues meant there were limited cost-cutting opportunities.
“If we can get some financial assistance toward expanding the shelter or have a review completed by the government on the policy regarding our legislative requirements, that would help,” she said.
“It is a tough one.”
