YARRAVILLE Dog Central Day Care is being investigated after reports dogs are being left in the Hyde St warehouse overnight.
It is a condition of the centre’s permit that animals not remain on the premises overnight. Maribyrnong Council general manager of infrastructure and engineering Ian Butterworth said the council had received two complaints about dog attacks -understood to relate to unleashed dogs on “bush walks” - and was investigating a “possible breach of code of practice” at the centre.
Yarraville’s Maryanne Scott said she had been DCDC’s biggest supporteruntil June 24 when she decided to check on her weimaraner Jude, booked in for a $58 overnight stay with a carer. When she banged on the side roller-door of the Yarraville business and called for Jude, many dogs began barking.
“I was so angry and finally at 9.30pm, I got through to owner Chelie Jones. I asked her where my dog was and she said ‘At a carer’s home’ and I said ‘No, he’s locked in your warehouse’,” she said.
“I was gutted. You put your trust in them - you can’t ask the dog,” she said. Ms Scott said that the next day, Ms Jones refunded the fee, claiming the dog had been kept at the centre because a transport van had broken down.
Ms Jones said Ms Scott was mistaken on her version of events on the night and said she had been at the centre at the time. Asked why she did not answer her phone for more than an hour, she said: “I was on a plane”.
A North Melbourne resident said he became suspicious about overnight stays at the North Melbourne branch of the centre. “It was about 8am in the morning and there was already 40 dogs there, it seemed too many to have been billeted out,” he said.
Four former staff members independently confirmed that while they had been working, dogs had never been sent to homes overnight and always stayed in the warehouses.
In December, Fabian and Claire told Maribyrnong Leader their dog Blue had been rejected from other dog day cares after attending the centre. Ms Scott said she chose the centre because it offered obedience and socialisation training, yet Jude was now more aggressive and could not be taken off a leash at parks.