'Kirklees Council one of worst for killing strays' Dog was put down despite bids to save it Kirkleess COUNCIL.

Byline: By SAM CASEY News Reporter

THIS dog was put down by Kirklees Council yesterday - despite desperate efforts by rescue groups to save it.

And dog charities say this council is among the worst offenders for exterminating "death row" strays.

The unnamed pooch was taken to Springfield Kennels in Ossett, near Wakefield, after it was picked up in Emley a week ago.

Halfway Home Dog Rescue, based in Newark, Nottinghamshire, offered to take the dog in and appoint a behaviour expert to work with it and try to find it a new home.

But the council said it was a hopeless case and refused the offer. The dog was given a lethal injection yesterday.

Val Hosegood, who runs Halfway Home, said: "It's disgusting. This little dog deserved a chance. He has shown no aggression and everyone in the pound said he was a nice dog.

"We were offering to take him and put him with a professional behaviourist.

"If they then said there was no hope and it could never be socialised, we would have had it put to sleep."

She added: "The council are completely uncooperative when it comes to death row dogs.

"They should be workingwith rescue groups but it's as if they just don't want to let any of these dogs out.

"Just because he was a stray he has lost his life."

The council said the dog, which was put down yesterday, was uncontrollable and feral.

But Christine Hurst, of Pups and Muts Dog Rescue, which works with pounds in the north of England, said any dog that was stray for more than three weeks would show 'feral' tendencies, including scavenging in bins.

She added: "Kirklees Council are one of the worst for this.

"It's very sad."

She said there was a big problem with stray dogs in West Yorkshire and added: "We live in a throwaway society.

"If the publicwas aware that dogs are being destroyed, maybe they would think a little more carefully before dumping them."

Trudie James, who set up the Doris Banham Dog Rescue charity, said: "As far as I'm aware Kirklees has one of the highest destruction rates in the country."

A council spokeswoman said there had been several complaints from a resident of Emley about the dog killed yesterday.

She added: "It had been pestering the resident's own dog, which was in season and kept sleeping in the garden.

"Kirklees dog wardens visited on a number of occasions to try and catch the stray and when they did so found it had no visual means of identification and wasn't micro-chipped.

"It was taken to Springfield kennels to be held for the minimum seven days before being put to sleep if it was not claimed.

"This decision was made after an assessment of the temperament of the dog which was feral and completely out of control when put on a lead, doing summersaults and running round in circles.

"It also escaped fromthe kennels and took a great deal of work to recapture.

"The dog wardens made their decision on the basis of the nature of this dog.

"If it was released and attacked somebody in future the council would be held to question why this action was taken when the dog's feral nature was known"

CAPTION(S):

LETHAL INJECTION: The stray dog (right) which was put down by Kirklees Council, and the Springfield Boarding Kennels, Ossett (above)