“You tell someone to ring the RSPCA, (and they say) ‘What’s the good of them? They don’t return your calls’,” Geoff said.

“People are coming to me, and we’re the last port of call, I’ve just had enough.”

The couple’s role over several decades has connected them to the national animal welfare organisation.

They currently own and operate the no-kill refuge they opened over ten years ago to accept, rehabilitate and re-home countless abuse and neglect cases.

Their work with welfare cases has put them in contact with the RSPCA, as has their former RSPCA membership, work to house RSPCA cases, and as greyhound trainers and breeders for several decades when they say their calls to the RSPCA to police the industry were disregarded.

Empty Wallet is a nearly four-year-old greyhound, still in residence at the Delungra refuge where he arrived on May 8, 2014.

NSW Police confirmed Empty Wallet was removed from a local residence as a cruelty case, and immediately transferred to the RSPCA.

Geoff said the RSPCA requested Gwydir Park kennel the dog temporarily while the case was investigated.

“It was supposed to be put here until they prosecuted the chap,” Geoff said.

“I said was that ok, I don’t want the dog euthanized, when the court case is over, sign it over to me, and I’ll re-home the dog, because he’s a beautiful dog.”

Gwydir Park Refuge re-home dogs for free, charging only $25 per animal to cover the cost of microchipping.

Geoff said without the transfer of ownership, the big dog with a saucy grin is in limbo.

“We’ve rung the RSPCA 15 times and I can’t get through; we can’t do anything.”

“They were going to ‘keep me in the loop’.”

He said no RSPCA NSW inspector has seen the dog, and no board has been paid or costs delivered to cover his rehabilitation.

Geoff said he was heartened when RSPCA NSW chief inspector David O’Shannessy recently requested a visit to the refuge to advance the matter of Empty Wallet.

The visit did not occur.

“They made the appointment, said they’d be there on Tuesday to make arrangements, no show, and didn’t make a phone call,” Geoff said.

“I had a chap here, that loves him, wanted to take him, but he gave up.”

It is not the first time the couple have found the national welfare organisation indifferent to cases of neglect.

Earlier this year, a Croppa Creek breeder surrendered three Shar Pei bitches, a Shar Pei intact dog and pig dog puppy to the refuge.

Geoff said they were tipped off an RSPCA inspector allegedly visited the owner’s property on the Thursday or Friday prior to the dogs’ arrival at Gwydir Park.

“And left a note saying: ‘Further action will be taken’, so I notified (the RSPCA),” Geoff said.

Geoff said since the notification, including the state of the dogs’ conditions, they have had no response from the organisation.

“It took us six weeks to get them right,” Geoff said.

“We just put them in the kennels, and lucky, it was the security kennels, and I went out about half and hour to an hour later, I can’t exactly and there was blood up the walls and everything and the first thing I thought, ‘parvo’.”

The couple changed their clothing for biosecurity purposes, and deduced it was not parvovirus, but a heavy worm load.

Geoff held up a test tube of one of the several 2.5 foot long tapeworms recovered from the Croppa Creek dogs.

“They were just riddled with worms,” he said.

The couple said in their nearly 50 years in dogs, they had never seen such cases of worm infestation.

Geoff and Pat formerly operated one of the largest greyhound training facilities in Queensland for many years.

Long before the story of live baiting used in greyhound training broke on the ABC program Four Corners, Geoff and Pat raised concerns with the Greyhound Control Board and the RSPCA about the issues such as live kills and baiting, dog welfare and the withholding of electrolytes to dogs after racing.

Geoff said they raised the red flag about bad practice in the industry with a representative of the head office of the RSPCA in attendance of the General Annual Meeting of the Inverell RSPCA branch over nine years ago.

“You know, I had names, phone numbers, all that sort of thing,” Geoff said.

“You don’t want to rubbish the whole industry, because there’s bad apples in everything.”

Geoff produced a letter from RSPCA NSW representative Don Robertson, stating five vets were on site at the Moree Greyhound Race Club, and no concerns raised were addressed.

Geoff said Mr Robertson began the letter with “Some months ago”.

“Some months ago’,” Geoff said with disdain.

“Well, if it’s a cruelty case, about electrolytes and that in the heat, where dogs have a race over 600 or 700 metres, and they can’t have a drink after the race, 42 degree heat, and that’s the only thing he got back to me (about), but it took him months,” Geoff said.

“I was there for 15-odd years, and never saw a vet, and Pat was their animal first aid officer when we were there, and there’s not even five vets in Moree, so that’s lies.

“You know it’s hit the fan now, but the clubs were trying to get you to stay at the club and not go to any other club and race, and (the Don Robertson) told me not to go there," Geoff said.

“Too much money in greyhound racing, and what chance you got of beating them?”

RSPCA NSW responded in a statement after Delungra’s Gwydir Park Refuge owners Geoff Johnson and Pat Carmody spoke publically with their concerns the RSPCA had been negligent in welfare cases.

RSPCA NSW stated that a greyhound in the refuge’s care was seized by the NSW police, and surrendered after enquiries by the RSPCA.

“There were various discussions between the RSPCA and Gwydir Park regarding this particular animal, where Gwydir Park insisted that the dog should be left with them, as they know greyhounds and they could find it a home,” an RSPCA NSW spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the dog came into the care of Gwydir Park in May 2014 following the seizure, and said the practice was not unusual.

“The RSPCA is always willing to work with rescue groups, and in fact, entered into community partnerships with a number of rescue groups to increase the adoption opportunities for animals.”

The RSPCA spokesperson said the organisation had not received further contact from Gwydir Park regarding the greyhound until September, 2015. 

RSPCA NSW stated they are in ongoing discussions with Gwydir Park Animal Refuge to follow up the matter in regards to re-homing the dog and opportunities to work more closely in the future.

The state welfare body spokesperson said they understood several Shar Pei dogs surrendered to the refuge may have come from a property that was subject to an alleged animal welfare complaint. 

“The RSPCA commenced an investigation, however prior to the RSPCA having any contact with the owner of the animals, it is understood that they of their own volition contacted Gwydir Park Animal Refuge and made arrangements to surrender a number of animals to the refuge,” The RSPCA spokesperson said.

The RSPCA said they cannot comment on specifics of investigations.

They stated that if owners are not able to adequately care for the animals under their care, control or supervision, they should consider making responsible decisions regarding the ongoing care of their animals which may include surrendering them to rescue groups or other organisations who are better placed to provide for their needs and re-home them if that course of action is appropriate.