How are Sheffield Council "disposing" of our dead pets??

[katkin 10]

I hope that whoever ends up with the contract provides a minimum service of contacting the listed owner on the name tag if the animal has one, automatic scanning for microchip & owner contact, and keeping a schedule & description of the animals when & where they are collected from.

It would be ideal if there could be a freezer facility where the animals can be bagged, tagged & stored for a week to give the owners a chance to reclaim their animal. But I think this would be too costly.

I dont think it matters too much where these unclaimed animals are eventually cremated. We just need to make sure we have in place a fair & cost effective system that gives pet owners the chance to find out what has happened to their lost pet.

 

I agree spats.

[Chris_Sleeps 10]

When I had a cat, I always knew that one day she could go out and not come home. It was a factor in having a pet that was left to look after itself. I never considered that the council had a responsibility to return her to me.

 

Luckily, she was a bit of a wimp and didn't like going outside. I only ever saw her cross the road once, in 4 years. If she was outside she'd sleep on top of the bin and wait for me to let her back in again.

[H_Hounds 10]

Doncaster Crematorium do this with all pets. Will this new company do this service or is it a waste of time having our pets chipped?

 

The main reason for a chip in my opinion is so it can be returned home when it is still alive, so still a very important thing to have.

[Evei 10]

The council will always go with the company that reasonably meets the tender requirements at the lowest cost.

 

I think you explained what I meant to say more clearly. By best value I mean the one that fits the brief as closely as possible for the least amount of money, not the value of the service.

 

When I had a cat, I always knew that one day she could go out and not come home. It was a factor in having a pet that was left to look after itself. I never considered that the council had a responsibility to return her to me.

 

I believe this too. I love my dog but if I let him escape, roam or get stolen and he got killed it would be solely my fault for not ensuring he was safe and part of that consequence would be not knowing what happened to him

Edited August 8, 2012 by Evei
spelling

[GrahamY 10]

I contacted Amey with our concerns. their response:

 

A spokesperson for Amey said: “We recognise how important people’s pets are to them so we make every effort to inform owners if their pet is killed on the highway by scanning all animals for ID chips and checking collars for contact details. Once we or the pet tracking service have traced the owners and made contact, they can arrange collection of their pet if they wish to by appointment. Dead animals with ID chips or contact details on the collar will be kept in refrigerated stores for up to four weeks. Any animals that are not micro-chipped will be stored for up to five days.

 

 

 

“All animals that are not collected by their owners are taken by a local pet crematorium who arranges disposal of the animals.”

 

We can all rest easy, thanks for that, Amey.

[jodyallen 10]

Glad that is settled then and Amey plc are so very caring and check for chips and are able to store all the babies and then they are transferred to a local pet crematorium, i am most impressed.....

[rubydazzler 11]

'babies'

 

This is all very laudable, but what's the cost of this, and will any of it be passed onto the owners? I'd hope that Amery have negotiated a favourable rate for this service, which I understand for people who don't have the space to bury their pets at home can be quite considerable.

 

I think we all realise how upset people can be when they lose a pet and it gets killed, but at the same time the rest of the population can't be expected to feel quite the same, especially when it comes down to allocating scarce resources.

 

As someone commented earlier, when essential services are being cut, are council tax-funded private cremations justifiable? I'n glad the op brought this to public attention, because it was something I'd never considered before.

[jodyallen 10]

Rubydazzler, what do you mean council funded private cremations? and i use the word babies in the context of animals..just how i am.

[smudge74 10]

Thanks for checking that out GrahamY.

 

My issue was not that the council have sought a cheaper contract, of course that would make sense. My concern was that pets would be disposed of with the rest of the "rubbish" and no attempt would be made to find the owners. I guess only time will tell if they will live up to their promise, personally I'm skeptical - when profit is involved companies cut corners. Will they really pay someone to spend time trying to find the pets owners? I'm not convinced. And how on earth have they managed to provide a cheaper service if they have then got to pass the dead animals onto a pet crematorium, the cost of which will come out of the money for the contract the tendered for????? :/

[rubydazzler 11]

Rubydazzler, what do you mean council funded private cremations? and i use the word babies in the context of animals..just how i am.

I mean that the council are paying Amery to provide a waste disposal service and apparently Amery will use their staff's time to check out dead domestic animals found on the road, provide a facility to store them for a period and then pay a private animal disposal service to dispose of the bodies. Is this correct?

 

This means that ultimately the cost of tracing owners and/or disposing of the bodies devolves down to the council tax payers. I'm asking if any one knows how much this all cost and whether this charge reverts to the owner if and when traced?

 

Also, does this apply to ferals and abandoned animals or just animals that can readily be identified as domestic pets?

 

I'm not saying this should or shouldn't happen, more curiosity as to how the figures stack up.

[Bruce_Shark 10]

I mean that the council are paying Amery to provide a waste disposal service...

 

Not quite, the council pay Veolia for waste disposal.

 

If you'd read my earlier (posted) links you'd see that the council are paying Amey to look after the roads, this is one part of that.

[rubydazzler 11]

Not quite, the council pay Veolia for waste disposal.

 

If you'd read my earlier (posted) links you'd see that the council are paying Amey to look after the roads, this is one part of that.

Oh please, don't make me say it ... do you really want to upset jodie and the rest of these guys?