The Inside Story From A Kennel Maid

Pet dogs seized under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 are imprisoned at secret locations around the country, there is no access for the dogs owners.

Incarcerated on a canine death row, and considered dangerous because of the way they happen to look, they wait enduring month after month, alone and not able to understand why exactly they have been torn away from their homes for committing no wrong. Some dogs have been imprisoned for nearly 3 years others have died waiting to be released. Many await the outcome of court hearings and some never make it back home.

The following account is from a kennel maid who eventually left her job when she could not bear the experience any longer.

“I worked in kennels housing so called Dangerous Dogs - i.e., dogs of the Pit Bull ‘type’ contravening Section One of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

When I was first employed at this establishment it was just an ordinary boarding kennels. We were then told that fro November we would be taking on Pit Bull types. We were warned about these dogs - they were supposedly potential lethal animals and capable of killing and maiming. We were told that contact was to be avoided at all costs and this was drummed into us constantly. Dogs subsequently arrived and I found they did not fit this description at all, they were just pets like any other dog. albeit confused and frightened pets longing for their owners or at least some human love and attention.

Physically they were well cared for. They were kept clean and fed (I made sure of it) and veterinary care was available but it was cold comfort when all they craved was some human contact. A stroke or a pat would go a long way to make their enforced hostile environment more bearable.

Obviously, in time we disregarded the advice of the powers that be and when no one was watching we did go in the kennels with the dogs. They would jump up in excitement and cuddle up to you, whine and lick you. Sometimes if you sat down they would just climb into your lap and shake. I would often just sit in a kennel and cradle a dog.

How some of these dogs could be even vaguely described as pit bull type was beyond belief - one even had a fairly long coat. However, what ever their breed or type they were all being treated in the same way - as some sort of dangerous wild animal. We would naturally get very attached to the dogs, particularly when you consider the length of time they were with us.

Some came in as puppies and I would look after them and watch them growing up. When eventually we received a message that one of the dogs was to he taken and destroyed we were devastated. You never knew when time was up for one of the dogs or which one was next to go for destruction. It was impossible to remain detached when you have cared for them and become a surrogate owner for them for months.
Eventually I left. I went to work with dogs in the first place because I love them and as a dog lover I could not sleep at night knowing that lovely, innocent family pets were being killed for no other reason than the way they looked.

This experience is one I will never forget. The whines, the cries, the expression on their faces, their longing for human kindness and contact. I will bear these memories in my heart forever.”

HELP US STOP IT.