It's a dogs life

There have been a number of reports in the media recently about the state of the Metro Police Dog Unit. The allegation range from: no budget to feed the dogs to no budget to maintain their grooming and general well being. And one senior Metro official was even quoted in a local newspaper as allegedly saying: “Police dogs should be viewed as “an asset” and, as such, ought to be destroyed when they are no longer able to work, like office furniture.”

The whole saga with the Metro Police Dog Unit is absolutely unacceptable. It’s unacceptable that we should plan so poorly. I mean you can’t run a police service that has a dog unit if you don’t plan to have the vet’s bills paid, or you can’t feed the animals, or even have the supplies to wash  or shampoo them. 

It’s been widely reported, based on off-the-record conversations with some of the Metro policemen themselves, that they’ve run out of budget and can’t afford these basics. And the question really is: why? Why don’t they have a budget? Where has this allocation gone to? 

So a story emerged that an organisation had arranged a delivery of food and grooming supplies to be donated to the Dog Unit and were turned away. It’s been reported that the lady in charge did in fact follow the right channels and made a time to go down there, so it was an official exercise. But when they arrived there, the person who was receiving them didn’t know anything about it. And he allegedly turned them away, asking them to go through the correct channels. 

Apparently, the officer also said that they can’t accept any gifts because it can be seen as a bribe. And this is a good point, but by the same token the Metro police should hold every one of their own officers to the same high standard. So when they ask for a bribe on the side of the road as so many people, me included, have experienced, I don’t hear them hauling out a code of ethics in that moment. “I can’t take this “gift”, it might be seen as a bribe.” An officer who pulled me over one day told me it was his birthday and asked if I had a gift for him. But that’s another story altogether. 

So what about the policemen that get free coffee at some of those garage shops? Can that not be seen as a “bribe”? For me, the argument is juvenile. How would policemen on the beat possibly know not to give these people who donated goods to the dog unit fines? It’s a stupid argument to make! 

But this is a big issue – because it doesn’t just speak to the obvious. Yes, there are all these animal rights people jumping up and down, but it needs to be looked at in the bigger context. What it means is that, if the allegations are true, then, there is serious mismanagement or poor management, at the very least, within the dog unit. And how is it being handled? Why don’t they have budget? People don’t just run out of budget. Do they have too many dogs? 

Let’s hypothesise here for a minute. They start the year out with ten dogs, let’s say, and it costs them R100 a month to feed a dog. That means you need R1000 a month, which in turn means you need a budget of R12000 a year to feed the dogs in the unit. So at what point did you suddenly run out of budget? Surely this budget is allocated to the department well in advance because someone is meant to be doing the projections? 

And what about the horses in Westville? I was driving through the other day, and I kid you not, there was the mounted patrol in the suburb? Firstly, why is there a mounted patrol in Westville? What do they do exactly? And if the dogs can’t be fed, what about these horses? 

Then on the weekend, I was in the Midlands with some friends and in rode these two Durban Flying Squad members into Rosetta in these really fancy bikes. I know they’re not the Metro police, but it’s a case in point. My first thought was: “You’re quite far from Durban on your marked bikes. Were you just on a jol ride? Or what were you doing on state vehicles on the weekend?” These were police bikes and I quipped to one of them: “I’m so glad that the police are giving you such fancy tools to do your job!” The sarcasm was lost. 

But if we’re talking budget, you at least need context. 

So I wanted to put these allegations to the Metro Police and following is the process of trying to get some kind of communication from them. 

I called spokesman, Superintendent Eugene Msomi twice on Monday, and left messages, to arrange a time to record an audio comment for the show. 

I subsequently sent through an email with the questions I needed comment on.

1.    What is the state of the animals in the Dog Unit of the Metro Police? 
2.    Is there any truth to the allegation that the Metro Police don’t have funds for their food and up keep? 
3.    Is there any truth to the allegation that the older dogs will be “put down” because they’re no longer capable of working? 
4.    Is there any truth to the allegation that am organisation who brought through food and grooming supplies were turn away by the Metro Police? 
5.    Do you have an adequate budget to run this unit? 
6.    Why has it got to this point? 
 
When I got no response from Superintendent Msomi, I telephoned him again. He indicated that he was at Moses Mabida Stadium and will attend to the matter as soon as he was in his office. I never heard from him again. 

I then got an email from Gugu Mbonambi, Media Liaison Officer of the Ethekwini Municipality, with a press release (see below) asking me to use that as the comment. I immediately telephoned her to inform her that 

(1)    It was a radio show, not a print story, so I needed an audio comment; and
(2)    The press release didn’t answer all of my questions. 

She responded in a very belligerent manner saying that no one was available and that I “have to use the press release and that was that.” I informed her that I would call back at the agreed time and she should prepare an audio comment, at which point she cut the call. 

I phoned back at 11am and chaos ensued. I could not get in a word as Mbonambi launched into a tirade and would not listen to anything I was saying. I have the recorded call. 

This entire situation is extremely disconcerting, to say the least. Why does the municipality have a Media Liaison Officer when she refuses to listen to the media or respond accordingly?

Also, when I told her the call was being recorded she then said she was not authorised to speak to the media. Why then did she respond to my query in the first place?  And why was she not being transparent? 

I am yet to hear from anyone in the municipality. And I seriously doubt I will. 

Here’s the Press Release from Ethekwini Municipality. 

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
23 JUNE 2015
ETHEKWINI CARES ABOUT WELLBEING OF ALL METRO POLICE UNIT DOGS

EThekwini Municipality assures the public that there is no shortage of dog food and various other essential grooming and handling items for Metro Police dogs. 

A routine stock verification recently conducted indicates that there is adequate supply of dog food. Further, items such as shampoo, check chains, leashes, tackle suits, dog brushes and tracking leads are in stock.
Metro Police cannot accept donations because there is sufficient stock in place therefore it is not necessary to accept donations from the public. 

Importantly, all dogs in the Metro Police dog unit are vaccinated and their medical records are filed accordingly. Our dogs are attended to by qualified and experienced veterinary physicians. 

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Amanzimtoti Manager Tracey Girling said when the SPCA visited the Metro Police dog kennels all the dogs were fine, however, Metro Police sought the assistance of the SPCA to put down one of the dogs which was old and ailing.

“The humane thing we could do for the dog was to put it down,” said Girling.  

The care of Metro Police dogs is of utmost importance to Council as they are an integral part of the Metro Police family and every effort is being made to ensure that their care is of an acceptable standard.

ENDS

Issued by eThekwini Municipality’s Communications Head, Tozi Mthethwa.

Terence Pillay can be reached on email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @terencepillay1 and tweet him your thoughts.