Whanganui District Council destroying more pound dogs but not because of overcrowding

Whanganui District Council's current dog pound opened in 2020. Photo / NZME

The number of dogs euthanised at the Whanganui Pound has risen 16.8% in the last year and 58.5% over the last three.

The Whanganui District Council says it does everything it can to avoid putting animals down while a range of factors, including the cost of living, has made it harder to rehome dogs.

There were 111 euthanised in the 2023/24 financial year, up from 95 last year and 71 in 2021/22 - the first full year of operation for the new pound.

Council regulatory and compliance operations manager Jason Shailer said dogs were destroyed because of health and behavioural issues, not because they had been at the facility too long.

“Of course, we would love to rehome all of them, but sometimes their behaviour is just too much of a risk,” he said.

“They are often handed in by people because they have problems you just can’t do much with.”

He said there was no “cut-off date” for impounded dogs.

If a dog is not claimed after seven days, it becomes council property.

From there, they were put through temperament tests and assessed for rehoming through national services the council had partnered with, including specialist organisations for retired Greyhounds, farm dogs, and Bull Terriers, Shailer said.

“If the dog has real potential but there are no takers, we’ll hold onto it as long as possible. It’s not ‘time is up, done’.

“We want to see them rehomed not put down. No one likes doing it.”

Until 2014, dogs were killed in a gas chamber before injections were introduced.

As of June 30, there were 7915 registered dogs in Whanganui.

Shailer said connecting with nationwide rehoming organisations was beneficial and other councils had approached the council for advice on its system.

“Whanganui has roughly 1% of the country’s population so we get a much bigger audience,” he said.

“We also strongly encourage desexing. A litter of seven puppies is another seven dogs we need to find a home for. That’s really difficult.”

It was currently harder to rehome dogs - especially large ones - because of the cost of living crisis, he said.

“It’s definitely not cheap, and it’s also harder to find a rental property you’re allowed to have a dog in.”

Shailer said 74 dogs were rehomed in 2023/24, up from 69 the previous year but down from 105 in 2021/22.

“We never put down a good dog because we haven’t been able to rehome it,” Shailer said.

“The pound has 48 kennels. We’ve been in the 30s but it has never been full.”

The Ridgway facility, which became non-compliant, had 32 kennels.

He said retired Greyhounds in particular made great pets.

“We had one at the old facility called Bolt who ended up being the pound dog for a while before he was rehomed.

“He just slept all the time. You wouldn’t want him to escape because you would never catch him but he was a brilliant animal.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.