IN CONCRETE CELLS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 97, 15 July 1927, Page 13

IN CONCRETE CELLS

FATE OF WANDERING DOGS BETTER TREATMENT URGED Woe betide the wandering dog which is found in the street and taken to the City Council kennels at Freeman’s Bay. He will languish in cold concrete cells, where the wind blows in on him and the thin straw is little protection against the chill of a winter’s night. Until a fortnight ago the wandering dogs which were taken to the City Council’s kennels did not even have straw to take the chill from the concrete. Thanks to the efforts of the S.P.C.A., straw was provided for these hapless, unwanted animals. Last year 800 dogs were destroyed after being taken to the kennels. Many dogs are found wandering on the streets or are taken to the kennels when they have accidentally strayed from their homes. Except for the members of the S.P.C.A., it would seem that all interest in the animals is forgotten when they reached the kennels. If the dogs are not claimed by their owners they are destroyed. It seems that no attempt is made to sell the hogs, as in other centres. In Wellington, if anyone goes along to the kennels where the stray dogs are. an animal can be bought for the price of a collar. Yesterday a pathetic, hungry-lookmg terrier shivered in the cold of the kennels at Freeman’s Bay. There was nothing to protect him from the biting breeze which blew in from the grating. And he looked so hungry. Surely it would not cost a great deal to provide a more comfortable place for the stray dogs which are found on the streets. A wooden building, with battens on which to place the straw so that they would not feel the cold of the concrete, would be a very simple matter. . - For some time past the members ot the S.P.C.A. have agitated for better accommodation for the dogs, hut all they have received so far has been promises.