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SOUTHERN VIEW Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz Thursday <strong>July</strong> <strong>22</strong> <strong>2021</strong> 5 Bid to find more homes for abandoned dogs A CITY council partnership to retrain dogs for adoption with a Bromley-based animal shelter has resulted in almost all dogs being rehomed last year. The collaboration is between the city council’s animal services team and Dogwatch Sanctuary Trust, as well as the Christchurch Bull Breed Rescue in Woolston. “Working with Christchurch Bull Breed Rescue and Dogwatch Sanctuary Trust is a key part of our focus on rehoming dogs,” city council animal services manager Lionel Bridger said. “These two organisations, together with shelter staff, play a vital role in helping to re-train dogs so that they can be adopted out.” When animal services find dogs that are not microchipped and ownership cannot be confirmed, or when dogs are not collected by their owners after seven days, the city council looks to what other options they have to avoid what would have historically resulted in euthanasia. “Shelter staff now assess the dog’s temperament over a period of time and determine with work by either Dogwatch or Bull Breed Rescue whether the dog would be suitable for rehoming. “If they are, we would hold dogs for up to a month until there is space available for them. “The dogs are then rehomed from the shelter to one of the organisations, who put a lot of work in to ensure they find the right owner,’’ Bridger said. The collaborative approach has dramatically reduced the number of PHOTO CREDIT: KAREn MOfFATT-MCLEOd FOREVER HOME: Christchurch Bull Breed Rescue founder Abbey Vanderplas has partnered with the city council to retrain abandoned dogs, allowing more of them to be adopted out. dogs being euthanised by the city council. Last year the city council placed 675 dogs in the animal shelter. Of those 563 were returned to their owners, 47 referred to Dogwatch and Bull Breed Rescue for rehoming and 50 rehomed directly from the Shelter. Only 15 dogs were euthanised. By contrast, Auckland City Council figures for last year show that 5492 dogs were impounded, 1388 euthanised and just 372 adopted. Dogwatch’s adoption centre manager Kelly Burt said the dogs come to them with a variety of issues including poor socialisation, barking, nipping and fence jumping. Once specific behaviours were identified, Dogwatch develops a training plan before looking for a suitable home. Said Burt: “We don’t want them to bounce around, we want these dogs to go to homes and stay there so we aim to VOTE nOw! make a match between what the owner can provide and what the dog needs. It’s about that willingness to work together.” Abbey Vanderplas is one of two full-time, trained volunteers at the Bull Breed Rescue. She works with more than 20 other volunteers and foster carers to provide support for pitbulls, staffordshire terriers, bull terriers and their crosses. She founded the organisation 10 years ago after adopting a staffordshire puppy from the city council shelter and realising the difficulties bull breed dogs faced in finding new homes. Vanderplas said there was an “old school mentality” that just is not there today. “It took time to lift that stigma but Christchurch now is really lucky with our animal management. For a large city we are doing phenomenally well at making sure good dogs get a chance.” PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD <strong>2021</strong> YOUR VOTE MATTERS MOST! For the first time, the Kiwi Gardener Bird Photo Competition includes a People’s Choice Award, where your vote matters the most. The winner will have their bird pride of place in a stunning 20<strong>22</strong> calendar. ? SELECT UP TO THREE FAVOURITES! VOTE OnLInE AT KiwIgARDEnERMAgAzinE.CO.nz *Terms and conditions apply, voting ends August 11, <strong>2021</strong>. No one day is ever the same at McMaster & Heap Vets. Last Wednesday night we got an urgent call that a GSP, aptly named “Maximus Carnage” had ingested 250g of 50% Chocolate with 250ml cream. Max cleverly lifted the pot of cream and chocolate off the stove and licked ravenously at its contents while his humans had left the kitchen. Chocolate is very poisonous to dogs, especially the dark variety, so we urged Max’s owners to rush him into us before close. On arrival Max looked excited to be in our waiting room, saying hello to the other waiting patients. Kirsty was the first to see Maximus and tried to make him sick up the chocolate with a double dose of medication popped into the conjunctival sac, that is supposed to induce vomiting. Nope! Max wasn’t giving up his chocolate feast easily. Chocolate is slowly absorbed from the stomach so you have about 4-6 hours to make them sick. All that ingested chocolate could have had dire consequences for Max, so Kirsty quickly anaesthetised Max, stomach tubed him to remove the chocolate and copiously lavaged his stomach to remove every trace. She retrieved 1/2 a bucket of chocolate. Then she poured activated Charcoal down his tube to help soak up any remains of chocolate. Max was placed on intravenous fluids to help excretion of the methyxanthine and provide cardiovascular support. Caffeine can be reabsorbed across the bladder wall and this can prolong the duration of clinical signs so fluids and frequent urinations are highly recommended. Max was closely monitored until he was awake and then sent to the After Hours clinic for overnight care. Chocolate is directly toxic to dogs as it contains methylxanthines - in particular Theobromine and Caffeine. Initially dogs may vomit, drink lots, start tremoring and become restless and agitated. As toxicosis progresses their hearts rate quickens, blood pressure elevates, they become hot, rigid and may start to seizure. Sometimes they can just die from toxic levels. Other toxic products with the methylxanthines are cocoa and coffee beans, diet pills, cold medications, Guarana, stimulant pills, tea leaves, energy drinks and coffee. McMaster & Heap Veterinary practice Max’s CHOCOLATE Party Max waking up from anaesthesia with nurse Olivia by his side Maximus under anaesthesia getting the chocolate out Open 7 days Cnr Hoon Hay & Coppell place phone 338 2534, Fax 339 8624 e. mcmasterandheap@yahoo.co.nz www.mcmasterheap.co.nz Dark unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder and cacao beans are the worse in milligrams of methylxanthines contained. White chocolate has virtually no methylxanthines but is just high in fat and could lead to pancreatitis. There is a chocolate calculator online to work out whether your dog has ingested a lethal dose and needs to seek vet attention. Max was lucky that his owners realised what he had done and sought our help immediately. Having 3 vets on that Wednesday night, meant Steve and I could cover Kirsty’s consults so she could spent 1.5 hours working on Max. The After-hours clinic wasn’t open at this stage and he needed gastric emptying immediately. Max and his family Very pleased to say Maximus Carnage has made a full recovery but this won’t Max, the Chocolate eating dog stop him attempting to steal more chocolate in the future. Prognosis depends on type and quantity of chocolate ingested, body weight of the dog and the time lapse between eating and being made to vomit. Max had a lucky escape. Dr Michele McMaster McMaster & Heap
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