Bourke Shire's council-run dog pound has come under scrutiny for a second time over alleged mistreatment of dogs and puppies.

The Council pound is accused of animal cruelty and failing its required duty of care after volunteers from Domestic Animal Rescue and Education Incorporation (DARE) collected nine dogs and puppies from the council's pound in February.

Failure to exercise its required duty of care has brought the new complaint to the NSW government and RSPCA NSW.

The complaint is strenuously denied by the council.

Practices at the Bourke pound made headlines around the world in August 2021, when 15 dogs and puppies were shot after the facility said it was unable to rehome them due to COVID-19 restrictions.

According to an ABC report last week, advocacy group Animal Liberation, alleges all but one of the nine dogs were later found to have contracted parvovirus, spread by faeces and other health issues.

When speaking to reporters at The Western Herald, Bourke Shire Council General Manager, Leonie Brown, said council denied that it improperly treated impounded dogs.

She said the animal welfare concerns raised with council had been investigated by the RSPCA, but they were yet to receive a report of the outcome.

“Further to this, the Bourke Pound has been inspected and we are advised it meets RSPCA requirements,” Mrs Brown said. “Furthermore, I will be working with council staff to review and potentially implement any further RSPCA recommendation.”

A volunteer with DARE said he was shocked by conditions in the five-pen Bourke shelter.

In reports to The NewDaily, volunteers allege a two-year-old border collie named Fleur, in the pound for three weeks, was unable to stand and lay in her own waste after she and another dog were hosed down in their joint pen.

A ranger allegedly dragged Fleur and the three other adult dogs from the pens to the volunteers’ van on a slip lead, which tightens around the animal’s neck as it is pulled.

Bellatrix, a five-month-old cattle dog cross, refused to walk and lay on her back when leashed. That prompted the ranger to drag her to the van as she squealed, according to the volunteers’ account.

The ranger then tried to lift Bellatrix into the van “purely by the slip lead around her throat like a noose," their complaint to the council says.

At the time of this complaint, Bourke Shire Council's acting general manager was Ross Earl, who told Australian Associated Press that all the dogs were observed by staff to be eating, drinking and otherwise healthy.

“(Bellatrix) moved by itself after coaxing from the staff member. When the staff member was near the van, he picked the dog up using his hands and arms to assist the animal into the rehoming van,” he said.

Each of the nine dogs collected by DARE Inc was put into foster care, with most adopted out.

The investigation is ongoing and Bourke Shire Council strongly denies the claim.