Dear John,
I am so grateful that you are having a policy meeting
this morning. The main policy problems with regard to the Dog Shelter Tender
are that the Animal Welfare Act comes under the Department of Agriculture and
the Dog Control Act comes from the Department of Environment. These need to be
merged, as dogs have ended up without a basic right to life.
I am writing with the specific request for you to
withdraw the tender, rewrite it and open it again. The council are not legally
bound until midnight on the 11th, so there is an opportunity to
change this decision.
In your own budget last year, it stated
"Under the Control of Dogs Act, Kilkenny County
Council has a statutory obligation to provide a dog warden and a dog shelter,
and this service can only be provided by a local authority, the ISPCA or
another recognised animal welfare organisation."
http://www.kilkennycoco.ie/eng/Services/Finance/County-Manager-s-Report-2014-Final-Version.pdf
Four Seasons Promotions are not a recognized animal welfare organization. They
are a series of companies, including pharmaceutical research, investigative
research, technology, secure transport and garda background. There are strong
links to Joseph Moran, who only in 2012 was given a 16 month sentence for
horrific animal cruelty, hidden behind 8 local authority contracts. There is
also a link to John Craddock, contractor of the CAS scheme. Do not let anyone point
you to the horse pounds as a legitimate animal concern. Only last year Four
Seasons took 3 pregnant mares from leased land and put them down. Foals live
for 6 hours in the womb and this is so far removed from animal welfare, it
beggars belief. Healing by Franc has been in touch about horse welfare as well
and offered to manage a shelter for them as well, with a rehabilitation and
rehoming. The benefits of having an animal welfare concern as pound keepers are
many:
Rescue Partnerhips, volunteers, foster care, trap,
neuter, release, pet retention, comprehensive adoption programme, public
relations/community involvement, medical and behavior prevention and
rehabilitation, high volume, low cost spay and neuter – by having a veterinary
person on staff. Hardworking, compassionate shelter director.
In the tender allocation, a key performance indicator
should be: A commitment and proven record at rehoming. There was huge ambiguity
and weighting where, on the tender it says a tenderer must have two similar contracts.
This was assumed by ASH animal shelter and Healing by Franc to mean a
background in animal welfare and care. This sort of accountability would be
crucial. In fact, applications were judged on two similar financial contracts.
I have seen the print out of all the public money that goes to shelters –
amounts from one to twenty thousand. They could not possibly have two similar
financial contracts. Secondly, this is another reason, why where there is
public money, it should be invested in an organization that is invested in
animals. The Enforcement of Law, licensing and the education of Responsible Pet
Ownership, would all be included in a proactive way. For example, the Carlow
Dog Warden covered 90,000 kms last year and Kilkenny Dog Warden covered 60,000
kms. Instead of this random, extensive driving around, they could quietly and
methodically go from door to door checking dog licenses, offering advice.
Thereby generating an income and promoting a relationship with the community.
If you give the contract to the animal collection
service, they will profit once from the contract, again from the disposal of
animals and possibly a third time, through selling animals for research. The
original staff from the shelter are extremely concerned too. They have said
that the ISPCA are pulling out of the pounds as the welfare of animals is
impossible to apply. If the legislation was changed around the 5-day rule where
animals ‘should be surrendered for research’ or can be euthanized and the
confidentiality policies that mean that animals are not publicly advertised,
making rehoming extremely difficult and the dog control act was merged with the
animal welfare act to create a change in society towards responsible pet
ownership, it would put Kilkenny on the map in a good way. At very least, you
can see how these three policies above are extremely open to abuse by a
business, who profits from an absence of welfare. The horses in Kilkenny are
already collected by Four Seasons. They do not even keep them in a pound – they
are put down immediately. They charge you €980 per horse to take them away.
This is far too much money going in the wrong direction.
The concerns of the citizens have only seemed to
invoke a defensive response from the council so far. The procurement section,
not looking at concerns about the incoming tenderer. I believe the onus is on
the council to ensure the concerns are unfounded, rather than write them off as
‘made-up’. We (the unsuccessful tenderers have been invited to put in an
infringement notice and intention to ask for a high court judicial review.
Transparency
International said that there is no Irish Procurement authority with power to
investigate complaints and resolve disputes outside litigation, which is why we
are approaching you directly.
A public tender was advertised, asking for
proposals of between 450 and 650 thousand euro to run the joint Carlow/Kilkenny
dog shelter and dog warden services. Two animal welfare concerns, three horse
pounds and one carcass disposal business submitted tenders. Kilkenny County
Council is proposing to give the contract to the latter. More than 10,000
people have signed a petition in a week on hearing this, to insist that the
shelter and Dog Warden Services go to an animal welfare concern. In Germany and
Italy, no healthy dogs are put down. This is a problem at legislative level,
with the Animal Welfare Act and with the Dog Control Act being interpreted as a
license to kill and profit from it.
Carol
McCarthy said in a public statement that they chose the collection service due
to three incidents of sheep worrying. At no point did it address the
inappropriate nature of giving a dog shelter to an animal collection service.
In everyone’s mind it is just abhorrent.
Our
request to you is to pressure the council to stop this contract before the
money is paid on Wednesday 11th February at midnight and hundreds of
dog’s fates are sealed. 1,392 were killed already, in that pound unnecessarily
in the last 5 years. In one year there were 9 outbreaks of Parvo (which is a
common dog illness). Eight out of the
nine times, they killed all the dogs in there to fumigate and start again. That
was sick and healthy dogs and completely unnecessary with proper care and
cleanliness. In Leitrim they run a council pound, for half the cost and all
dogs are treated, rehabilitated, spayed and rehomed. Wide spread support and
community involvement is available for that to work here too.
Talking
of the vast cost of these services, the information that was on the public
tender was not realistic to the budget that Kilkenny Council actually have. It
has come to light since that there is €148,000 available from Kilkenny and
€100,000 from Carlow. Either way, nowhere near the 450-650,000 proposals the
council asked for on the public tender website. Everything points to the Four
Seasons animal collection service having information that other bidders did not
have.
Carol
McCarthy, herself, knows that it is a blatantly heinous choice. This is widely
known as her first letter to the other tenderers, Healing by Franc and ASH
Animal Shelter for definite, named the ‘Animal Care Society Cork ‘as the successful
tenderer. We wrote at once to congratulate them and offer the names of all the
local people who had offered to work and volunteer. Others who had offered to
take photos weekly to make sure that lost dogs were easily returned and others
rehomed, by getting a regular slot in the newspaper for pictures and
information. They responded WE NEVER EVEN PUT IN A TENDER and said they were
horrified to think that the other acs, the animal collection service, might
have misrepresented themselves in order to win another public tender. They
didn’t need to, it turned out as the council had done it for them.
Some
of the council really want Four Seasons to have that contract and nobody
outside knows exactly why. We all know that it is not fair and square, however,
it violates every animal welfare law there is and it will lead to untold
suffering again until it all comes out in the open. In fact, it is already
coming out into the open and all the council are responding is ‘you can take us
to court if you want’. That is a weak defence. If somebody comes forward to our
request for a sponsor, we would take the decision to court, even if they only
considered the handling of the tender. My father was a High Court Judge himself
and my background is also in legal advocacy. I really hope that you can find a
way to address it before the expense of court and / or the Four Seasons are further
exposed and convicted of more animal cruelty.
The
grounds of my infringement notice would be:
1.
Failure to advertise a relevant contract
2.
Wrongly determining that a candidate does not meet a prequalification
criteria
3.
Giving one bidder information that was not given to other bidders
4.
Bids in favour of one party and against another
5.
Incorrect application of the award criteria
6.
Changing the award criteria or their relative weightings after receipt
of bids
We
know that you would not act in favour of an individual group, so I hasten to
add this is not an individual case. This challenge is an argument on behalf of
all the animals in Ireland and all the people who care about animals. This
includes a very alive and well network of rehoming and adoption programmes, care
and rehabilitation. I draw your attention first to the responsibilities of the
council which are not being interpreted fairly and then outline some of the
further areas of law that are far too open to abuse from a business with no
animal welfare connection.
The
Pounds (provision and maintenance) Act, 1935, Section 5
The
Appointment of Pound Keepers
‘Every
local authority in whose functional area any pound is situated shall as often
as occasion requires appoint a fit and proper person to be keeper there-of.’
These
following points highlight the rights and risks of neither ‘fit nor proper’ authorized
officers (Dog wardens in this instance) and the savings and even profits to be
made by local authorities too (Kilkenny County Council in this instance) from the
disposal of animals. The final one describes the Federal 5 Day Rule which is
untenable and needs to be changed. Even if the original SPCA staff are kept to
do the day to running of the shelter, that is not better. As I mentioned, there
have been 1,392 dogs killed in this one pound in the last 5 and three quarter
years. The SPCA are giving up all the pounds in Ireland and this is a critical
moment in history where a better system can be put in place but it has to be
acted on now, while the public tender is still open and the media spotlight is
on what happens now.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2013/en/act/pub/0015/print.html#sec37
(2) Where an animal, animal
product, animal feed, means of transport or other thing is seized and detained
under subsection (1), an
authorised officer may—
(a)
sell, destroy or dispose of the animal, animal product, animal feed or other
thing or cause it to be sold, destroyed or disposed of, or
(b)
take such other measures in relation to the animal, animal product, animal feed,
means of transport or other thing as the authorised officer considers
appropriate, in the circumstances.
(3) The profits, if any,
arising out of the sale, destruction or disposal of an animal, animal product,
animal feed, means of transport or other thing seized and detained under subsection (1) shall be paid to the
owner of the animal, animal product, animal feed or other thing less any
expenses (including ancillary expenses) incurred in connection with the
seizure, detention, sale, destruction or disposal.
(4) The costs (including
ancillary costs) of a measure taken under this section may be recovered by the
Minister, the local authority concerned or the person who appointed the
authorised officer—
http://www.animal-pounds.com/reasons_to_search_at.html
5-day Federal
Rule Idea:
“Pounds: Since
animal pounds are government-controlled facilities (regular or
privately-contracted), they typically utilize the 5-day Federal hold rule,
where an animal does not have to be held more than 5 days. The 5 day hold is
mandated in order to allow owners time to find their pets. Although some now
hold them longer than 5 days, this may depend on how many animals are impounded
at the time, the breed or type of animal, etc. Also, the 5-day rule does not
apply to animals surrendered by their owners, nor does it apply to animals
which have already been held for at least 5 days by a member of the general
public or another facility. Once the 5 days are up, the facility has a right to
keep the animal indefinitely, sell the animal to a new owner, surrender it for
research (all pounds are required to, but some do, some do not), or euthanize.”
Four Seasons Promotions have companies involved in
research too and secure transport. Many concerned people have been trying to
expose what they’re doing for years and have come forward, in the hope that you
will do something to stop from their profiting from the continued suffering of
animals.
These are some of the recognized risks taken by Kilkenny local
authority during this tender and they have taken no steps to mitigate them.
Operational
Risks Confidentiality
Delays
Interruption
to supply chain
Key
personnel
Adequate
maintenance
Commercial Escalation of costs
Ministerial
Financial protection (Insurance, indemnity)
Procedural Competition Delays
Gaps in
Knowledge
Lack of
clarity or information in specifications
Incorrect
qualification or award criteria
Legal
challenge to competition
Termination
date of contract with existing provider
The
corruption is extensive, reaching country-wide already. Hundreds of people
already carry the burden of their local pounds as although it is the most
subsidized they make the least effort at animal welfare, re-homing, social
change or developing personal responsibility for animals.
You
might think, we are ill advised to share all this information before we go to
court. Our belief, however, is in total transparency and integrity. The onus
remains on the council to be sure that none of the concerns about Four Seasons
are founded before going ahead. They are saying they are legally bound, but the
council is not legally bound until midnight 11th February.
Follow
the Leitrim model, run by an animal welfare concern, with a veterinary nurse as
manager. ASH Animal shelter is the obvious choice to run the Kilkenny/Carlow
pound and services and the council could change their minds with dignity and
give it to them. They have said that they would offer the service within the
budget the council actually has and will work with the existing staff. Our role, with the Healing by Franc tender was
to put forward a new conscious model of animal welfare and ethical management
of public money to this end. We are also based within 5km of the shelter. As
the process goes on, our role seems to have been to expose this deception and
possible tragedy, one element at a time. Now that the puppies have been found
in Dublin, it allows the media to report on this nation-wide story. The whole
Protecting Pound Dogs campaign, all who signed the petitions and soon the whole
country will be waiting with baited breath to hear if you can stop it. You will be so dearly loved and revered and
voted for at every opportunity, if you do act and/or can bring it to the
legislative committee and others who can put the shelter and dog warden
services in safe hands.
Best
regards, Frances Micklem
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