City has adequate dog food supplies
eThekwini Municipality has assured the public that it has adequate supplies of dog food and care products, after it refused thousands of rands worth of donations for the Metro Police K9 unit this week.
IN a week where eThekwini Municipality’s Metro Unit turned away donations of food and care products for the dogs in its K9 unit, and took the shocking action to have Butch, a member of the Isipingo Dog Unit put down because he was too old to work, the city released a media statement today assuring the public that there is no shortage of dog food and various other essential grooming and handling items for Metro Police dogs.
According to eThekwini Municipality’s Communications Head, Tozi Mthethwa, a routine stock verification recently conducted indicated that there is adequate supply of dog food as well as items such as shampoo, check chains, leashes, tackle suits, dog brushes and tracking leads in stock.
“Metro Police cannot accept donations because there is sufficient stock in place therefore it is not necessary to accept donations from the public,” she said.
Mthethwa went on to say that all dogs in the Metro Police dog unit are vaccinated and their medical records are filed accordingly. “Our dogs are attended to by qualified and experienced veterinary physicians,” she said. Last week media reports indicated that the city had not paid outstanding veterinary bills.
According to Mthethwa, The SPCA Amanzimtoti Manager, Tracey Girling, said when the SPCA visited the Metro Police dog kennels all the dogs were fine, however, Metro Police sought the assistance of the SPCA to put down one of the dogs which was old and ailing. “The humane thing we could do for the dog was to put it down,” said Girling, according to the city’s media release.
“The care of Metro Police dogs is of utmost importance to Council as they are an integral part of the Metro Police family and every effort is being made to ensure that their care is of an acceptable standard,”said Mthethwa.
