A VOLUNTEER who quit from a Bibra Lake op shop claiming there’s dog pee all over the floor says it’s a health hazard and should be closed until it’s cleaned up.
Rags to Riches in Port Kembla Drive is run by Ashronia Community Service’s colourful pastor and former One Nation candidate Lawrence “Lofty” Shave, whose ministry provides food, furniture and hospital beds for families in need. Pastor Shaves lives permanently at the site.
When the Chook took a look through the shop to verify the volunteer’s claims, the carpets throughout were heavily stained by what appears to be hundreds of puddles of piddle.
But pastor Shave is adamant it’s water damage from a leaky roof, despite our photographs showing no water damage on the ceilings above and all the stains being of a roughly uniform size.
• Is this dog’s pee-pees or stains from a leaky roof?
“The dog is never there, it’s on the road with me six days a week,” says pastor Shave. He says an elderly dog used to stay in the shop and sleep on a lounge near the counter, but it had passed away a couple of years ago and hadn’t peed on the carpets either.
The volunteer was assigned to Rags to Riches to comply with Centrelink requirements, but demanded a transfer after watching toddlers playing on the floor while mums searched for bargains.
“They wouldn’t even have known that it was urine; it was disgusting, it’s a public health issue,” they said.
Another bone of contention was the dog poo.
“Every time I went home I had to duck and weave through the driveway, and eventually I just got sick of it and on the last day I thought I’d do everyone a favour and pick it up,” said the volunteer.
Pastor Shave agrees he doesn’t pick up his doggy’s dumps around the yard, but says he gets volunteers do it for him.
“They come down here on work for the dole, and if they have to clean the toilets then they have to clean the toilets, and if they have to pick up dog poo, then they have to pick up the dog poo,” he said firmly.
“I’ve got people trying to break in to the bins three times a week, they get in there and chuck everything out, I had three people break in and bash me until I ended up in Fiona Stanley Hospital; I need a guard dog.”
Cockburn council’s environmental health manager Nick Jones said there’d been no complaints about Rags to Riches, which would prompt an investigation. Rags to Riches also runs op shops in Hamilton Hill and Coolbellup.
by MOLLY SCHMIDT
and STEVE GRANT