Auckland rescue centre sees huge jump in abandoned puppies

Monday, 21 June 2021

Nearly 80 rescued by Saving Hope Foundation need new homes (first published in April 2019).

The growing number of dogs needing to be rescued is “disgraceful”, the founder of an animal charity organisation says.

Janine Hinton, of Saving Hope Foundation, said more than 600 pups have been rescued by the foundation since the start of this year. From January to June 2020, 412 puppies and older dogs were rescued by the foundation’s volunteers, she said.

By March 2021, about $474,000 was spent on vet bills.

That was double the cost of the year prior and with more dogs coming into the foundation’s care than ever, that number is expected to rise.

Saving Hope Foundation founder Janine Hinton.

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Saving Hope Foundation says desexing is the only way to stop the influx of dogs needing rescue.

So far this year, more than 600 pups have come in to Hinton’s home in north Auckland’s Silverdale, with large litters needing rescuing being posted about on Saving Hope’s social media page regularly.

“It is disgraceful, it really is disgraceful, and it needs to stop. This can’t keep going.

“We need desexing.”

Large litters of puppies are coming into Janine Hinton’s Silverdale home regularly.

Hinton said many of the puppies came from Northland and the organisation works closely with a rescue in the Bay of Islands.

It also tries to work with communities who appear to have large problems with non-desexed dogs, but many litters are still being disposed of and dumped.

“We had three puppies come into our care that were found in a bag in a river. They escaped but the rest of [the litter] died,” Hinton said.

“We had another litter come in that was found in the mud, with one dead.

More foster carers are always needed for the puppies before they are rehomed, Saving Hope Foundation says.

“It’s really terrifying to think in New Zealand this is just happening constantly.”

The only way to address the issue is to desex dogs, Hinton said.

But the cost is a factor, and many people don’t want to ask for financial help, so dogs keep having puppies, she said.

Unless dog owners in this situation give puppies up to a rescue, which then offers to desex the mother and make sure the puppies get desexed, “it’s just a vicious circle. It’s going on and on and on”, Hinton said.

It is “basically a never-ending story” and changes are needed in New Zealand, she said.

“We’ve rehomed over 2000 dogs and pups since we’ve been a rescue.

“We are well over 200 in our care at any one time. I think desexing is so important.”

Hinton said she would like to see a revamp of the Animal Welfare Act.

“It says they have to have food, they have to have shelter, and they have to have water. But it also [talks about] the ‘wellbeing of the dog’.

“But we’ve got dogs that may be drinking out of a dirty puddle, in a kennel that leaks and gets food thrown out to them once a week. Is that classed as ‘wellbeing of the dog’? It’s not.”

She said there are “very few” prosecutions in New Zealand regarding animal cruelty and the consequences are basically “a slap over the hand”.

Given how many puppies are constantly coming into the organisation’s care, Hinton said more foster carers are always needed.

More information about fostering is available on the Saving Hope Foundation website.