This summer has been absolutely brutal – not just for us, but for God’s purest angels, our sweet doggos. The latest in a string of heat-related pet deaths is Ruby, a four-year-old boxer who died of heatstroke after staying at a Sunshine Coast boarding kennel.
Ruby’s owner has now joined a growing community of grieving pet owners whose beloved animals have died in kennel care.
The website Boarding Kennel and Cattery Reform Australia has been set up to document the tragic stories, and to call for changes to the laws around pet boarding. A Change.org petition is also currently active, calling for the introduction of “registry and regulation and a standard code of practice in all boarding kennels“, and has nearly reached its 15,000 signature goal.
Ruby is the fifth dog documented on the Kennel Reform Australia website to have died in Queensland kennels. According to her owner, who has chosen to remain anonymous, Ruby suffered heatstroke on New Year’s Day, despite being “100% healthy” when she was left at the kennel. Her owner is also calling for widespread kennel accreditation:
“As day care centres need to be accredited, relevant processes and practices also need to be applied to kennels both to prevent these situations from happening, and to support and protect animals, their families, as well as the kennel owners.“
Currently, there is no Australia-wide animal welfare policy in place; it varies from state to state, and the quality of kennel care appears to reflect that inconsistency.
The woman behind both the website and the Change.org petition is Jayne Cvetanoski, from Newcastle, who told the Courier Mail that her actions are in response to a recent spate of unrelated pet deaths in kennels throughout Australia, explaining:
“Councils need to crack down and put regulations on how many animals can be in a kennel, what kinds of kennels, if they should be air conditioned, what qualified staff they have there, do they have access to vet care and other policies and procedures.”
A forum will be held in NSW this month to discuss possible reform of pet boarding regulations, with representatives of the RSPCA, PIAA, the Australian Veterinary Association, other animal welfare organisations, and some government officials attending.
Source: Courier Mail.
Image: Boarding Kennel and Cattery Reform Australia.
