Blacktown Animal Holding Facility

In most cases stray and surrendered animals collected by Holroyd City Council are taken to the Blacktown Animal Holding Facility which acts as the area's pound. If you'd like to adopt a pet consider calling and visiting the facility. There is an online list of animals recently impounded.

Address: 415 Flushcombe Road, Blacktown (corner of Flushcombe Road and Great Western Highway)
Phone: 9839 6160 or 9839 6161
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm, Saturdays 9am to 1pm, Sundays 9am to 11am
Website: Animal Holding Facility - Pets Online

What happens when an animal is taken to the Blacktown Animal Holding Facility?

On arrival at the pound dogs and cats are scanned for a microchip by pound staff. If a microchip is located then the details of the owner of the dog or cat is obtained from the Companion Animals Register.

Pound staff will then attempt to contact the owner by telephone. The owner is advised that their dog or cat has been impounded and what they have to do to have the animal released.

Where telephone contact cannot be made, the pound sends a registered letter to the owner advising of the impoundment and the procedures to have the dog or cat released. A registered letter is also sent to owners that have been contacted by telephone.

Dogs and cats identified in this way, or alternatively that have no microchip but are wearing a collar and tag with the owner's details, are kept at the pound for 14 days awaiting their owner to claim them.

Dogs or cats without any identification are only kept for seven days. Dogs are kept in kennels during this period. There are six blocks of kennels with each block containing twelve kennels. Each council's dogs are not kennelled separately but are kennelled according to temperament, size and behaviour compatability.

In past years, dogs that had reached the end of the holding period without being claimed or sold were "humanely" destroyed by euthanasia. However Blacktown City Council has now introduced initiatives that result in a significant proportion of unclaimed dogs being re-homed.

These initiatives include:

• All dogs taken to Blacktown City Council Pound are available for tender. This allows anyone to tender a price for a dog before the holding period has expired. Once that period is over the person who tendered the highest price is sold the dog. This system was introduced to overcome a situation that existed previously where pet shop owners were calling to the pound on a daily basis and buying the best animals for a nominal sum and then selling them in their shop at significantly higher prices;
• At this point, any unclaimed dog for which a tender has not been received is assessed as to its suitability to be placed on the desexing program if it is a "whole" animal. These animals, as well as already desexed dogs considered suitable for re-homing, may be taken by welfare groups or kept longer in the hope that they will be re-homed, however, they cannot be kept for too long due to the numbers of dogs continually arriving at the pound;
• Blacktown City Council sponsors a "Save a Pet" page with the Fairfax Sun local newspaper.

Volunteer

Being a volunteer at Blacktown's Animal Holding Facility is a very rewarding experience. Volunteers assist and support staff by caring for the welfare of the animals.

Volunteers can help with a number of activities including:

• washing and grooming
• walking and exercising dogs
• socialising animals