Holidays not a pets picnic

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 619, 16 January 1996, Page 1

Holidays not a pets picnic

By

Michele

Monoghan

Waiouru's current dog ranger and long-standing RSPCA officer Gail Larson had a terrible holiday period with two cats and 18 kittens abandoned over Christmas. Another 10 were placed voluntarily in her care to be found new homes. "All from Waiouru. I've never come across a town like it," she said. Gail recei ved on average two calls a day from people who had strange cats turning up on their door steps, either for company or food. "I've only had six or seven kittens over the last three years and all of a sudden 18! Why did we get such a rush?" Gail puts the 'rush' down to a pet feeding service that started up in Waiouru. Many people cancelled their bookings at her pet motel, while others simply didn't bother to turn up. "It's not just because I lost business, but there is more to looking after

pets than just feeding them. It's the human contact," she said. Cats were not the only casualty — some ddgs got into bother over the festive season as well. One was reported with a sore leg. Attempts to contact whoever was feeding it failed. Another jumped over a fence and was extremely lucky that it's chain was long enough for it to just be able to touch the ground on the other side. "They're obviously being fed by someone, but they're forgetting about what happens during the day and night," Gail said. Meanwhile Ohakune' s RSPCA inspector Carol Dockley said she received around 12 calls over the Christmas period from people wanting to give their pets to her and another eight or so of reported cruelty. "Some were being fed and left, while others weren't being fed at all," she said. "People just don't care. They forget about their animals at this time of year and it's not fair on the animals".