The decision to euthanise a 12-week-old Staffordshire cross puppy, Murphy, by the Lost Dogs Home has sparked an online campaign to save Murphy’s sister, Milly from the same fate.
The protest online was sparked when Animal Justice MP, Georgia Purcell, revealed that Murphy was put down despite his full health and the pleas of his foster parents.
The shelter has since released two statements saying their decision to put down Murphy was based on several behaviour assessments undertaken by experts that indicated Murphy was unsuitable for rehoming.
Under the Victorian Code of Practice for the Management of Dogs and Cats in Shelters and Pounds, “we cannot rehome animals who are aggressive, anti-social, or who have known vices,” the statement said.
“We would not be meeting our obligations regarding community safety if we transferred an animal who we consider unsuitable for rehoming based on our expert behaviour assessment processes.”
It is unclear what qualities Murphy demonstrated that led to the outcome, but the shelter has stated the risks identified were considered “too significant to responsibly transfer him to a rescue group.”
In a new statement released on 3 October, the shelter said Murphy’s behaviour was examined across various circumstances including “shelter intake, medical history, veterinary handling and structured behavioural assessments”.
Milly is being assessed under the same criteria as Murphy, but the shelter has stated she is currently staying at a private home.
And that information is being collected from her past caregivers to best assess her outcome.
“We’ll continue to monitor and review her behaviour. Our aim will be to understand more about her personality, temperament and motivations.”
The shelter hasn’t released a timeframe for when Milly’s outcome will be released, stating each case is context-specific. Isabella Gabriele, who lives in Langwarrin, fostered Milly for six days and has been a foster carer to 17 dogs prior, said that Milly, during her stay, exhibited no alarming behaviour that would indicate she was aggressive.
Gabriele brought Milly back to the Cranbourne shelter due to her teething on electrical wires.
She was concerned about Milly’s safety when left alone during working hours and decided it was best to contact the shelter. “The other puppies that I’ve had would chew on toys or beds… whereas Millie was adamant on the fact that she liked electrical cords… but it was all puppy chewing. It wasn’t aggressive,” she said.
But Milly’s teething raised concerns for the behaviouralist at the shelter.
“Now the Lost Dogs Home is calling that fear anxiety or fear aggression…” Gabriele said.
Gabriele also had two other dogs in the home, a male golden retriever and a female Bull Arab cross, who she says got along well with Milly.
The shelter told Gabriele that 60 per cent of genetics related to aggression is inherited by the offspring, which is why all three of these puppies have raised particular concern.
Both Murphy’s mother and an unnamed brother have also been put down due to behavioural issues.
The unnamed brother raised alarms when he killed a kitten during his foster stay.
Gabriele says that The Lost Dogs Home’s pathway team has been cooperative and “have been lovely” in keeping her updated but it’s still unclear how much longer Milly’s assessment will be.
