This is pretty much the letter I sent as objection to the Kilkenny Council's handling of the allocation of the tender for the Dog Shelter! Please feel free to add that two 'popular' groups so including Healing by Franc and the charity A.S.H would be much preferred. I didn't know that they had, too, put in a tender when I sent the following letter! Also feel free to add the point that this decision should have come before the council. As it is, your objections can be sent to Carol McCarthy in The Environment Department, Kilkenny County Council.
Thank you for your letter of the 21st January. I urge you to revisit the allocation of the tender for the Carlow kilkenny Dog Shelter on two accounts. Firstly, it has come to my attention that it is not the Animal Care Society in Cork that you are awarding it to, even though that is who you stated in your letter. We can only fear that it is the Animal Collection Society, which deals in dead animals, that you have awarded it to. Is this so?
I am hoping it was by mistake, as I too put in ACS to the internet and got the Animal Care Society, who have a great record of welfare and are very conscientious. On contacting them to congratulate them and share local knowledge, they categorically stated that they did not put in a tender and they would never want to be associated with the horrible practices of the collection group, using the same initials, ACS. They are very concerned by this misrepresentation.
I have since gathered that the ACS collection group have the contract with KCC for putting down all the impounded horses in the county and are probably delighted to take on the killing of all the stray dogs too. No one, literally no one, wants this practice to continue and everyone is horrified that this might be what the council considers finding responsible management for the dog pound.
The Healing by Franc team has another contract now in another area of management, so maybe that would allay your fears about managing a tender of this size. We will also happily address the need for enforcement of fines etc as needed. We could have filled in these details if you had met with us. I thought that might have been common practice in allocating a tender of this size. Could you let me know as soon as possible who exactly is getting the tender for the pound and if we are to be reconsidered.
When I rang the council to speak to you this evening, the man who answered said that the tender was not decided yet, but of course I have already received my letter stating that we had been unsuccessful and that the Animal care Society were to be awarded.
Please could we have some more transparency around this and make sure that the shelter goes to the people who will run it most appropriately with a forward looking, conscious model.
I imagine that the collection group were happy to settle for the minimal figure available for the tender, as they will make more money on the 'carcasses', as is their practice. I would like to state here, that we would manage the shelter and dog warden services for less. We will make do and find volunteers to make it work. All the local people are keen to get involved and improve the fate of stray dogs in Kilkenny and Carlow. So do not stay with that decision on account of cost.
Accept this email as an objection received well within the 16 days, on behalf of the Healing by Franc team, all the other rescue groups, welfare-oriented local people and anyone with any compassion at all.
Her email is carol.mccarthy@kilkennycoco.ie and we have a few days to get those objections in as the tender won't be officially awarded until the 4th February or 5th.
Thanks a lot, everyone, lets make sure the animal collection society don't get the shelter. That would be very bad news for stray dogs.
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