TIME TO CUT THOSE CANINE CHAINS

MISTREATED: Gisborne pooch Edith has been happily re-homed with new owners Greg and Lena Idour in Upper Hutt Picture supplied

Tairāwhiti residents are being “implored” to write to Government minister Meka Whaitiri to change the law to stop dogs being chained up for prolonged periods — a practice that left one Gisborne pooch with long-lasting trauma.

The case came to light when an SPCA inspector was called to a Gisborne address in May, following a report of a skinny dog, tethered and tangled up without shelter or water.

The inspector arrived and found a mixed-breed female (bitch) called Edith, with no collar, chained to a drainpipe.

The chain had become so twisted she could barely move from the spot she was in.

The area immediately surrounding her was littered with faeces.

Edith was emaciated, weak and her ears were covered in flies.

The inspector took Edith to a vet for immediate assessment.

The vet confirmed she was incredibly dehydrated and was at least 10 kilograms underweight.

After rehabilitation at the SPCA Gisborne Centre, Edith is now happy, healthy and has since been adopted by a loving family in Wellington.

“Edith's case was quite severe,” SPCA inspector team lead Philippa Lamb said.

“Not only was she on a tangled tether so tight she could hardly move, she had no shelter to speak of, no access to water, and was in very poor body condition. Due to the severity, we were able to take swift action and remove Edith from her situation.

“Unfortunately, for many dogs living their lives on chains, this isn't the case.

“Wounds from chains and tethers are quite common unfortunately. This can partly be due to not using an appropriate collar when tethering your dog but more often than not it's simply because the dog is constantly tied up and never let off.

“They will often pull repeatedly against the tether, or pace backwards and forwards or around in circles, resulting in hair loss, followed by an abrasion, followed by a gradually opening wound that is incredibly painful and can easily become infected.”

Cruelty and ignorance are often behind the owners' actions, she said.

“Some people may get a young dog or puppy and if they can't provide that animal with the socialisation and training it needs, the dogs can develop unwanted behaviours and often people resort to chaining up their dog because it's ‘naughty' or becomes ‘too much' to handle.

“Many people still use chaining up a dog as a punishment and New Zealand has a long history of accepting that a dog living its life on a chain, in the backyard, as a guard dog or house alarm, is perfectly fine.

“Dogs are sentient creatures. They feel pain and distress and they need stimulation, socialisation and the opportunity to display normal behaviour. They should be a part of your family.”

The practice has mental effects as well as causing injury.

“Unfortunately, some dogs that spend years on the end of a chain can become so mentally unwell that they cannot be rehabilitated.

“Often, injuries caused by a chain or tether, or pressure sores that become infected and fester from chronically lying on a hard surface or in mud and filth, have caused too much damage to be treated.

“So yes, if someone doesn't step in early enough, these kinds of actions can result in dogs needing to be put to sleep.”

Edith is now much happier with new owners Greg and Lena Idour based in Upper Hutt.

However, she still has a way to go for a full recovery.

“We came to Gisborne SPCA to look at other dogs, puppies mainly, that we had seen online,” the couple said.

“Edith wasn't even listed online at that stage. While we were meeting with some of these puppies, we noted that in the booth next door, there was a pair of eyes shyly looking up to try to see what was going on.

“Looking into her booth we could see the wee curled-up creature looking quite sad and scared, and the way she looked at us just caused our hearts to melt.

“She had clearly had a very troubled past and needed to be shown how to be a dog. We felt we could help her with that. It hasn't been an easy journey.

“However, Edith is great and flourishes when she gets to go outside into the park next door. But when she is at home she often withdraws into herself, becomes scared, cowers and is skittery around us.

“Feeding time is the most problematic. While she is clearly hungry, she becomes frightened of us (as if she thinks we are going to hit her while she eats) and she eats while standing in a strange fight-or-flight kind of position with her back legs out and her tail between her legs.

“Sometimes she is like that for a whole day. Other times she forgets that she ever had a troubled past and she runs down our hallway to lunge at her toys with a wagging tail. This is most often when we come back from our walks in the park.

“Edith adores the company of other dogs in the park and even though she is cautious with people, she is also interested in meeting and greeting them and chooses to go up to receive a treat or a pat from them.

“We have seen first-hand the extreme mental trauma that Edith is going through as a result of what she has been through in the past.

“We are told she was subjected to prolonged chaining. She is now learning one day at a time, what it truly means to be a dog — the joys of discovering new smells and places, the comforts of a cuddle and the loyalty and friendship which is meant to be the relationship between a dog and her human family.

“She has a very long way to go still, but we take every tail wag as a step towards breaking the chains of her past.”

The SPCA says thousands of dogs are spending their lives chained up in backyards or kept in confined spaces, day and night — and action is needed now.

The charity's chief executive Andrea Midgen says “enough is enough”.

“It's time for the Government to step up and urgently do something about this crisis. “Our inspectors see hundreds, if not thousands, of cases each year where dogs are being kept in these terrible conditions, but we're currently powerless to do anything about it because of outdated laws that desperately need changing,” says Ms Midgen.

“I don't want to see any more dogs suffer because our laws aren't protecting them.

“We hear from the public on this issue weekly, and know there have been repeated calls from many animal rescues to address this issue too.” SPCA national inspectorate manager Alan Wilson says current legislation makes it incredibly difficult for inspectors to intervene, unless there are signs of physical suffering such as injury, or a lack of food or water.  “Seeing them suffer this way but often being powerless to legally intervene, is one of the toughest parts of the job for our inspectors who work so hard to help animals and improve welfare each day.

“We also often face a lot of criticism for not being able to do anything, which is hard on our inspectors, and we want people to understand that we have to work within the current legal framework.”

The charity is now asking the Government to introduce regulations that target prolonged tethering and confinement directly, to allow inspectors to legally step in before animals have to suffer.

As part of the law change, the SPCA wants to see an amendment to animal welfare regulations that would allow authorities to apply penalties to owners who permanently tether or confine their dogs.

SPCA has recently submitted in support of a petition presented to Parliament by Chained Dogs Awareness New Zealand (CDANZ), signed by tens of thousands of New Zealanders.

The Minister responsible for animal welfare, Meka Whaitiri, has recently indicated support for exploring the possibility of creating regulations which would address the prolonged chaining and confinement of dogs in New Zealand.

“After years spent advocating for this change, the SPCA, while pleased to hear this, implores the Minister to progress regulations urgently,” Ms Midgen said.