Thousands of animals are saved from regional pounds every year but that rescue work has been hindered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Key points:
- Animal rescue organisation are receiving fewer donations and are unable to raise awareness due to pandemic restrictions
- Regular transport options to rescue animals from pounds have made volunteers concerned more animals are being euthanised than usual
- Dog adoptions have increased as more people are working from home
Carey Edwards from the Australian Working Dog Rescue Initiative said the organisation’s revenue has dropped by more than half.
“There has been a huge impact on donations, of course, because everyone needs their money to survive,” he said.
Annual events where the organisation raised funds and awareness have all been scrapped.
“We would have been out there demonstrating and showing everyone what our
fantastic rescue dogs can do,” Mr Edwards said.
“That’s all gone, as is all the royal shows we do — they’re all cancelled,” he said.
Fears that more dogs are being put down
The biggest problem has been getting to country pounds to save animals.
Codirector of the organisation, Di Edwards, said regular commercial transport options have been very limited.
“So we’ve had to get volunteers to drive their own vehicles up to these pounds, which are thousands of kilometres away from anywhere central,” she said.
Ms Edwards worried that more dogs were being put down than might normally be saved.
“We suspect more dogs are being killed in council pounds because of the impact that these restrictions are having on the operations of rescue organisations,” she said.
However, there have been other rescue groups still managing to do regional pound runs.
“We have contracts with various rural pounds throughout Victoria and New South Wales and we have transport runs that go up there regularly,” Ms Edwards said.
Shortages of volunteers, along with social distancing restrictions, have made everything harder.
“It is very difficult when you have animals involved and you’ve got to pass animals to other people,” Ms Edwards said.
Shelters that normally allowed people to drop-in and see animals now required visitors to make appointments.
Pet adoptions in hot demand
At the same time, interest in adopting animals has been greater than ever because of the number of people working from home during the pandemic.
“The phone just isn’t stopping, we’ve never quite experienced it like this before,” Ms Edwards said.
“Once a puppy goes up on our social media page, within 15 minutes we’re getting 100-plus phone calls.”
That has meant getting in first to adopt a pet has been harder than normal.
And Pets Haven vet nurse, Jordan Ellard, said some people’s frustrations have been spilling over.
“I have had people abuse me and be rude just because they have tried to call several times” she said.
“I do try to explain to them that I’m really busy I’m getting a lot of calls at the same time.”
‘Do your homework’
The RSPCA has been experiencing the same challenges as other animal rescue organisations.
But head of operations at RSPCA Victoria, Tegan McPherson, said the increase in demand to adopt pets has been welcome.
“We’re adopting more animals than we normally do at this time of year,” she said.
“Animals that might have waited a bit longer to find the right home seem to be finding homes a lot more quickly.”
Ms McPherson’s advice to people who were keen to adopt a companion animal was to be patient and be careful.
“It’s really important to do your homework and make sure the animal welfare organisation or rescue group is reputable,” she said.
“Make sure that those animals have been health checked, come vaccinated, microchipped [and] desexed.”
“It’s really important to do your homework and make sure the animal welfare organisation or rescue group is reputable,” she said.
“Make sure that those animals have been health checked, come vaccinated, microchipped [and] desexed.”
From pound puppy to working dog
The last dog to be adopted from the Australian Working Dog Rescue Initiative was Harry, a fox-terrier-kelpie cross.
His adoption was a foster fail, which occurred when a foster carer could not part with an animal when it came time for adoption.
Only in this case it was Ms Edwards who could not bear to say goodbye to Harry.
“Oh he just made us laugh,” she said.
“He’s just so funny, so full of vim and vigour. He just does the funniest things.”
Harry was now one of a gang of seven dogs that Mr and Ms Edwards have not been able to part with over the years.
All of which are now trained in herding and agility, and have been spending their lives showing the world just what abandoned working dogs could be capable of if given some love and a second chance.
Thousands of animals are saved from regional pounds every year but that rescue work has been hindered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Key points:
- Animal rescue organisation are receiving fewer donations and are unable to raise awareness due to pandemic restrictions
- Regular transport options to rescue animals from pounds have made volunteers concerned more animals are being euthanised than usual
- Dog adoptions have increased as more people are working from home
Carey Edwards from the Australian Working Dog Rescue Initiative said the organisation’s revenue has dropped by more than half.
“There has been a huge impact on donations, of course, because everyone needs their money to survive,” he said.
Annual events where the organisation raised funds and awareness have all been scrapped.
“We would have been out there demonstrating and showing everyone what our
fantastic rescue dogs can do,” Mr Edwards said.
“That’s all gone, as is all the royal shows we do — they’re all cancelled,” he said.
Fears that more dogs are being put down
The biggest problem has been getting to country pounds to save animals.
Codirector of the organisation, Di Edwards, said regular commercial transport options have been very limited.
“So we’ve had to get volunteers to drive their own vehicles up to these pounds, which are thousands of kilometres away from anywhere central,” she said.
Ms Edwards worried that more dogs were being put down than might normally be saved.
“We suspect more dogs are being killed in council pounds because of the impact that these restrictions are having on the operations of rescue organisations,” she said.
However, there have been other rescue groups still managing to do regional pound runs.
“We have contracts with various rural pounds throughout Victoria and New South Wales and we have transport runs that go up there regularly,” Ms Edwards said.
Shortages of volunteers, along with social distancing restrictions, have made everything harder.
“It is very difficult when you have animals involved and you’ve got to pass animals to other people,” Ms Edwards said.
Shelters that normally allowed people to drop-in and see animals now required visitors to make appointments.
Pet adoptions in hot demand
At the same time, interest in adopting animals has been greater than ever because of the number of people working from home during the pandemic.
“The phone just isn’t stopping, we’ve never quite experienced it like this before,” Ms Edwards said.
“Once a puppy goes up on our social media page, within 15 minutes we’re getting 100-plus phone calls.”
That has meant getting in first to adopt a pet has been harder than normal.
And Pets Haven vet nurse, Jordan Ellard, said some people’s frustrations have been spilling over.
“I have had people abuse me and be rude just because they have tried to call several times” she said.
“I do try to explain to them that I’m really busy I’m getting a lot of calls at the same time.”
‘Do your homework’
The RSPCA has been experiencing the same challenges as other animal rescue organisations.
But head of operations at RSPCA Victoria, Tegan McPherson, said the increase in demand to adopt pets has been welcome.
“We’re adopting more animals than we normally do at this time of year,” she said.
“Animals that might have waited a bit longer to find the right home seem to be finding homes a lot more quickly.”
Ms McPherson’s advice to people who were keen to adopt a companion animal was to be patient and be careful.
“It’s really important to do your homework and make sure the animal welfare organisation or rescue group is reputable,” she said.
“Make sure that those animals have been health checked, come vaccinated, microchipped [and] desexed.”
“It’s really important to do your homework and make sure the animal welfare organisation or rescue group is reputable,” she said.
“Make sure that those animals have been health checked, come vaccinated, microchipped [and] desexed.”
From pound puppy to working dog
The last dog to be adopted from the Australian Working Dog Rescue Initiative was Harry, a fox-terrier-kelpie cross.
His adoption was a foster fail, which occurred when a foster carer could not part with an animal when it came time for adoption.
Only in this case it was Ms Edwards who could not bear to say goodbye to Harry.
“Oh he just made us laugh,” she said.
“He’s just so funny, so full of vim and vigour. He just does the funniest things.”
Harry was now one of a gang of seven dogs that Mr and Ms Edwards have not been able to part with over the years.
All of which are now trained in herding and agility, and have been spending their lives showing the world just what abandoned working dogs could be capable of if given some love and a second chance.