Perfectly healthy dogs with many years of their life still ahead of them are being callously abandoned at Sydney’s dog pounds to face an untimely end - simply because their owners see them as too old and past their use-by date. Monika Biernacki reports.

For Sydney based rescue organisation, DoggieRescue “dinner time” is quite a monumental undertaking.With well over 100 doggie mouths to feed at their shelter at Ingleside in Sydney’s north, every day of the year, there is an immense cost involved as well. Monika Biernaki reports.

Monika Biernacki reports on one little dog's plight...

My name is Sunshine...something I will never see...

This medium sized cross breed is called Sunshine, but he will never see the sun.  He is blind, and was left at the pound to be destroyed.

PLEASE HELP US FUND OUR SANCTUARY
Our dream is to build Australia's first exotic animal rescue sanctuary. These are difficult times for the animal world. The need is great! Animals that have experienced a lifetime of displacement from there  natural habitat. Animals that have suffered horrible mistreatments.

Monika Biernaki reports on an alarming trend...

 It is the run up to school holidays and Sydney’s animal pounds and shelters are full.   This means there is almost no chance of a reprieve for hundreds of abandoned dogs, who will be destroyed to make space. “Just before school holidays, the kill rate is highest,” explains Monika, founder of Doggie Rescue. “It is heartbreaking but I can only assume that people surrender their dog rather than take it away on holidays, or pay for boarding kennels.”

Has your pet stopped jumping with enthusiasm when you come home? Are they avoiding flights of stairs or seem stiff and slow to get up from lying down?

They may be showing the early signs of osteoarthritis, or degenerative joint disease. This form of arthritis is very common in both humans and their animal companions. Inflammation of the joints can progress to the point where your pet may become reluctant to exercise, lame and lose muscle tone.