A Wyndham Vale family was left fuming after their lost dog turned up at a Werribee vet … and they couldn’t claim him until he had been transferred to the Lost Dogs Home.
Kathleen Bramich said her six-year-old French mastiff, named Boss, escaped his Wyndham Vale home on July 29, prompting a desperate search across the city.
Ms Bramich said she found out later that day through social media that Boss had been picked up by a local resident and taken to the U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital.
However, Ms Bramich said she was told by vet staff that she couldn’t claim Boss until he had been taken to the Lost Dogs Home.
She picked up Boss at the ‘home’ the following day, paying a $130 release fee.
Ms Bramich called the ordeal a cash grab.
“Microchipping is to help identify and reunite dogs with owners,” she said.
“I am outraged by the whole saga and only found my dog because of Facebook, not the $80 microchipping fee I paid.”
A spokeswoman for U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital and Wyndham council’s city operations director, Stephen Thorpe, both told
Star Weekly that state government legislation required all lost animals handed into a vet clinic to be passed onto an authorised council officer or a person or body that has an official agreement with council.
Mr Thorpe said that outside business hours, as was the case for Boss the dog, the Lost Dogs Home collected animals on behalf of council and reunited them with their owners.
“Vets don’t have a database of pet registrations, meaning it’s often difficult for them to identify who the owner is,” he said.
“Some people have also used images shared on social media to attempt to wrongfully claim a dog that does not belong to them.
“This has required council staff to be particularly vigilant to ensure lost pets make their way home.
“This is not a revenue-raising exercise and, in fact, the costs to council significantly exceed the fees charged.”
