By ANNE BOXHALL
Have you ever thought about fostering a dog or cat?
Nita and Deb are foster carers for SAFE Inc - Western Australia’s largest volunteer-based animal rehoming service.
For Nita, caring for animals on a temporary basis is a perfect fit for people who want dogs and cats in their lives but also want to be free to travel.
Fostering isn’t as hard as you might think says Nita. The satisfaction in helping many different animals outweighs the tricky part - letting them go!
It’s a privilege to take a dog in, love them, play with them, encourage them to trust humans again and watch them develop and grow.
Animals can relax and find their feet in a regular home environment, without the stress of being confined in an animal shelter.
We get to understand the personality of each animal and can tell adopters exactly what their new pet is like.
I get emails, phone calls and photos from adopters showing how happy the animals are and I always say that’s a job well done!
For Deb, being part of a joint effort with other SAFE foster carers saving thousands of animals' lives each year is incredibly rewarding.
In many ways, it’s not all that different to minding someone else’s pet because the dog or cat will always have another home to go to.
So when people say, I couldn’t foster because I’d get too attached - yes you might – however you are also playing a vital part in bringing the right pet and the right family together.
Author Lisa Lanser Rose puts it best when she says sometimes you do get attached, but so what? Yes, love hurts! Dogs and cats are out there hurting right now. You can do it, at least give it a try.
For more on foster caring, contact SAFE Inc at safe.org.au or your nearest ACAN member in other states.
Anne Boxhall is Executive Officer of Animal Welfare League Australia's West Australian member organisation, SAFE Inc.
Volunteers make a very important contribution to our three shelters at Dogs' Homes of Tasmania. They have all levels of experience, from recent inductees to those with more than 20 years of service.
Volunteers often form long-lasting friendships. Their mutual love of dogs always gets a conversation started, whether it be at one of our re-homing centres or when they are out in the community with one of the dogs.
Our volunteers perform many duties daily. Most start by walking all of the beautiful dogs on nearby bush-walking tracks. As they gain experience, and come along on a regular basis, the volunteers then get to help out in other areas of our operation.
And there's always plenty to do!
Dogs' Homes of Tasmania staff greatly appreciate this assistance because, without it, the dogs would not get the extra attention they need.
Some volunteers are unable to walk the dogs and so it's nice that they can help out in other areas, such as:
- General administration, gardening, grooming and bathing.
- Assisting staff with the rotation of the yards.
- Helping with fundraising activities.
- Taking a dog out for the day for general exposure to the community.
- Spending time with dogs who need a little extra help to rehabilitate them, and to make them feel safe and wanted.
All of our volunteers walk away with smiles on their faces, knowing that by being here they have helped bring benefits to 'man’s best friend'.
We work very hard to make the volunteers feel like part of the Dogs' Homes of Tasmania family. Despite our many different backgrounds and levels of experience, we have one important thing in common: the quest to make the dogs' stay a pleasurable one until their ‘furever’ home comes along.
As we celebrate National Volunteer Week, we say thank-you to all of our fantastic volunteers.
Our poem to our Volunteers
Dedicated hearts like yours
are not so easy to find.
It takes a special person to be
so generous and kind.
To care so much for our four legged friends
is a quality all too rare.
Yet you give of your time and talents,
for all of them in need to share.
So thank you for being a volunteer,
We're privileged to work with you.
We want you to know how appreciated you are,
not just today, but the whole year through.
National Volunteer Week May 11-May 17
Since emigrating from the United Kingdom in 2001, foster care volunteer Ruth Simpson has guided more than 70 dogs into new, loving homes. One of them, Barney, was a homeless hound in urgent need of care when Ruth agreed to take him in more than 12 years ago. After a challenging start to the relationship, it soon became obvious that Barney had found his place in the sun.
By Ruth Simpson
It was late February 2003 and my boyfriend (now husband) and I had been volunteering at the Dogs’ Refuge Home for a little over 12 months, after emigrating from the UK to Perth in January 2001. We had become regular foster carers and already had looked after a litter of puppies and a dozen refuge inmates who needed a break from the kennel environment. On this particular day, I happened to be home when the phone rang and it was no surprise to hear the refuge’s trainer at the time on the other end of the line – he’d got to know that I in particular was a complete pushover for a homeless hound in need.
“I’ve got a dog here and he’s going downhill fast, if I don’t get him out soon I’m not sure if he’s going to make it,” said John. “Can you foster him?”
“I’ll leave now and see you in half an hour,” I replied.
And that was it. The rest, as they say, is history. That’s how Barney Simpson entered our lives.
Named Bruiser by his previous owner and surrendered to the refuge with a brother (who we never met), this kelpie/staffy cross was, to put it mildly, absolutely terrified. In fact, after all this time, he’s still the most terrified dog I’ve ever encountered.
John introduced me to him in the training field where he cowered at my feet with his tail between his legs and proceeded to shake violently. Who knows what happened to this eight-month-old puppy? Had he been violently abused, or had he just been left in a garage somewhere receiving zero socialisation, meaning the outside world was a terrifying place. Either way, I agreed with John that this dog was badly in need of help.
And so, Barney Simpson left the refuge with me that day. He had to be carried to the car and immediately hit the deck, ducking below the window line during the half hour drive home. I still remember to this day pulling into the driveway, opening the back of the car and him staring back at me, probably wondering what I was going to do to him. It was impossible to prise him from the car, so I enlisted the help of a neighbour and we lifted him out, while all the time he shook violently. I recall thinking, if ever a dog’s going to bite me it’s now, he’s absolutely terrified, but he didn’t and that moment marked the rehabilitation of the dog I love with all my heart.
To say the next six months were challenging was an understatement. Barney hid behind the garden shed for the first three months, only being coaxed out occasionally for food. I spoke to the trainer at the refuge to ask his advice – “What do I do to help this dog?” I said. “Keep pulling him out of his comfort zone,” he replied. And so, I slowly started taking Barney for a walk to our local park. These ‘strolls’ were highly embarrassing because Barney didn’t want to go for a walk, he didn’t want to leave the backyard and in fact “walks” consisted of me dragging him up the road while he tried to scoot into every passing bush to hide. When he wasn’t cowering behind a large native plant, he had the brakes on, refusing to go anywhere.
After many weeks of this, we decided that we couldn’t handle this dog, and thought he’d be far better off being rehomed by someone with lots of time and patience – and most of all someone who knew what they were doing. And so, given my background as a PR consultant, and because I was also volunteering at the refuge doing their publicity, I decided to do a story on Barney in the local paper, which was published by the incredibly supportive Subiaco Post, which still publishes countless dog stories for the refuge every year.
To cut a long story short, Barney was rehomed three times, and each time he came back to us. Eventually, we came to the realisation that perhaps he had decided where he wanted to live. He had unfortunately proven quite destructive in other people’s homes, but with us he was never naughty, just very scared.
And so, after he returned back to us from his third trial home, Mark and I were worn down by his beseeching eyes and gentle, though anxious, nature which by this time saw him velcroed to our side. We decided that he wanted to live with us, and so in June 2003 we made the decision that he was meant to be ours, and off I went to the refuge to officially adopt him, still, to be honest, wondering how things were going to work out.
That was 12 years ago now, and when I think back to those days, as I write this, I’m filled with nostalgia. Mark and I were 30 and Barney was with us throughout that whole decade – and I’m pleased to say he’s in his usual position, asleep at my feet as I write this, in fact I can hear him gently snoozing.
I can honestly say that Barney has had the best life I think a homeless dog could have. He has had constant company, given I work from home, which is just as well as he never likes being left on his own – but that’s okay because he hardly ever is. Barney has been camping with us, slept in the tent with us, he was pictured in pretty much every photo when we spent several years renovating our old 70s house – and for much of that time he had splashes of white paint all over him given he was never far from our side as we painted walls and ceilings. Barney has joined us on beach holidays, weekend breaks and countless trips spent down south with friends and their own four-legged rescue dogs. When he hears the tailgate of the car go up – he immediately jumps in and adamantly refuses to get out – even if that means boxes, bedding, food and all the paraphernalia needed for a trip away is slotted in around him.
But the most wonderful thing about Barney is that, over the 12 years we’ve had him, he has enabled us to foster over 70 other homeless hounds in need of help. During that time, we have been foster owners for the Dogs’ Refuge Home, who we will always support as they were the wonderful organisation that rescued him in the first place. On occasion, we have also fostered for other rescue groups that have had particularly desperate dogs needing help, including Wish Animal Rescue, SAFE and even Rottweiler Rescue. And Barney has (mostly) welcomed them into our home, whatever their size, shape, temperament or age. He’s shown them what to do, where to pee, how to behave and even how to find the patches of sunlight that he adores and seeks out throughout the day as the sun moves over our house.
We have been proud to help transition all of those 70 dogs into new, loving homes – and we managed to resist adopting any of them, believing that as long as they found wonderful homes it was as good as us keeping them. But inevitably, we were bound to foster fail again at some point – and this has only just happened, in March 2015, when by chance I happened to see a Gumtree post about a stray dog that was abandoned in Lancelin on the Australia Day long weekend. I contacted the person who had found her and offered to help transition the pup to the safety of the Dogs’ Refuge, which resulted in a five-hour drive to rescue her. And because the shelter was full at the time, she came to our house during her quarantine period. Again, the rest is history, and we ended up adopting Poppy the puppy, another scared little girl who is the spitting image of a young Barney but who is growing in confidence every day.
If there is one thing I could wish for, it would be to enter Barney’s head and scrub out all the bad things that happened to him in his first eight months of life, before he was rescued by the shelter and came to live with us. But obviously that’s impossible, though I’d like to think that the wonderful life he has had – and continues to have – has possibly made up for the bad start he had in life. He’s certainly a completely different dog to the one we adopted over a decade ago. He adores his walks to the park and races up the street every morning, super keen for an adventure. He’s obsessed with the ball – and will do anything for it – which has been a great way to persuade him that life isn’t quite so scary after all. And most of all, he is the most wonderful ambassador for refuge dogs generally – in fact he’s living proof that a scared, nervous homeless hound can flourish into the most beautiful, happy, loyal companion that, given a second chance, will seize life and love it to the max.
Barney Simpson, you have made us laugh pretty much every day you’ve been in our lives, and have been the most loyal dog we could ever have wished for. Yes, sometimes I’m reduced to tears when I think that, at 13, you’re now in your twilight years – but hopefully you will have many more beach adventures, swamp walks, balls to chase, cuddles and treat-filled kongs. We love you Barney Simpson – and the newly arrived Poppy Simpson is becoming greatly loved too. What’s more, you prove that rescue dogs are the best breed of all.
– on behalf of The Simpsons – Ruth, Mark, Barney and Poppy
Ruth is Principal, Shine Communications, in Perth, Western Australia.
Foster care provides vulnerable companion animals with a second chance at a healthy, safe and happy life. It is also one of the most rewarding things a person can do for these deserving creatures.
Please read and share Norwegian Heidi Hobaek’s story about her experiences as a foster care volunteer for SAFE (Saving Animals From Euthanasia) Inc. in Western Australia.
By Heidi Hobaek
I knew no one when I arrived in Karratha in May last year.
Then I found SAFE (Saving Animals From Euthanasia), where I met not only my soon-to-be friends but got to work with one of my great passions – animals – and, in particular, animals in need.
Working as a volunteer foster carer for SAFE makes me feel good and provides meaning to my life in Western Australia.
Many companion animals are born without families, advocates or others to fight for their deserving chance at a healthy and happy life.
What I love about SAFE are its policies of zero euthanasia and a cage-free life for all companion animals.
Every animal deserves a second chance. Most of us humans live a pretty good life, with all of our needs met – and then some. Why not take the opportunity to share the good life with animals that really need love, affection, security and stability?
My partner and I have been foster carers for 10 or more cats during the past 11 months. Even the most timid ones will eventually lie next to us in bed, purring loudly, rubbing against our chins and pawing us. Some even nibble our fingers excitedly!
My motivation is to get them purring with three strokes and to be socialised within their boundaries, so that they have the chance to become someone’s furry baby – or the last piece in completing a family.
All of our foster cats have been individuals. Like us, they are born with different temperaments and qualities.
A kitten that comes in with puncture wounds from a bigger animal and soils herself on what might be the first encounter with people, and is also malnourished, will most likely not be a cat that rubs up against people during your parties. However, that does not mean that this cat is not able to provide loyal and rewarding companionship with lots of cuddles. You just have to find the right match and be patient.
There is a cat or dog waiting for every type of person. They will make your life healthier, longer and happier – and you are doing something for the greater good outside yourself if you choose to volunteer, foster or adopt.
We adopted our beautiful girl Shilo (a one-year-old kelpie cross) from SAFE and now we cannot imagine life without her. She made us into a little family of three (plus the two or three cats in our foster care).
Shilo will eventually go back with us to Norway and we are looking forward to taking her out hiking in the deep forests and skiing during the winter.
I have a cat waiting back home. She is currently living with my parents and will turn 20 in July. I can’t wait to see her again.
I would like to give a personal shout out to all of the people I have been in contact with who have adopted animals in my care. They have turned out be beautiful people with such big hearts. There is a lot of love within Aussies.
I encourage you to get in involved with companion animal foster care and adoption in any way you can. You will not regret it and you will be doing something for the greater good!
Go to http://www.safe.asn.au/cats_in_karratha.htm to see some of the cats – and other companion animals – currently available for adoption from SAFE Inc.
More information about how you can foster or adopt a companion animal
The quest to make a positive difference to the welfare of companion animals is never easy.
Many Australians, including hundreds of selfless volunteers, work tirelessly at animal re-homing centres around the country to achieve outcomes that improve the lives of these animals.
So, when we achieve a significant and meaningful outcome, it is worth celebrating those who have helped us along the way.
Animal Welfare League Australia launched the Beyond 100 campaign in late January to help the vulnerable companion animals of Broome, Western Australia.
Many of these creatures exist in terrible conditions, suffering starvation and mange as they roam the town’s streets disowned or unsupervised – only a short distance from one of Australia’s best-known tourist destinations at Cable Beach.
So many of the animals are not desexed. Nor are they microchipped.
Many people in the community care deeply about this tragedy but are powerless to help, simply because the problem is so big.
The nearest animal inspectorate is many miles away in Geraldton and local shire resources are stretched.
Many of the town’s pet owners simply can’t afford the cost of desexing and microchipping, or they lack the information and education to care about the welfare of these poor animals.
Cruelty is not always deliberate.
The Beyond 100 campaign was our national response to a cry for help from the Broome community.
With the generous assistance of the Broome Veterinary Hospital and the local branch of our West Australian partner organisation, Save Animals From Euthanasia (SAFE Inc), we set out to desex and microchip 100 vulnerable animals.
But that wasn’t enough, so we turned to the Australian public through our crowdfunding campaign http://pozible.com/beyond100.
The response was incredible!
Pledges came from around the country, with so many contributors eager to make a real difference.
In 60 days we exceeded our fundraising target by nearly 20 per cent, an outcome that will enable us to desex and microchip more than 120 animals overall.
This sort of generosity shows that everyone, no matter how small their contribution, can make a lasting and positive difference to the welfare of animals around Australia.
From all of us at Australia CAN, thank you for your pledges of assistance. We are humbled by your generosity.
Foster care is an important and invaluable way of giving shelter animals and rescued animals a second chance at life.
It also delivers a range of benefits to the foster carer, as well as the pet.
Foster carers give these animals the opportunity to temporarily spend time in a safe and loving home environment; to experience, enjoy and learn from the care and attention that is lavished on pets with permanent homes. This nurturing and loving support is provided until the shelter animal is ready to be adopted.
The number of shelter animals and rescued animals is growing and the need for more foster carers is greater than ever. Every animal in a foster home is one less that shelter staff and volunteers need to assist, creating a greater capacity for other animals to be welcomed into care.
If you're wondering what it's like to experience the sense of accomplishment that comes from being a foster carer, Sally Gartside and Ebony's story (below), will warm your heart.
For more information on How To Become A Foster Carer, visit our state partner Shelters and Animal Rescue organisations:
AWL NSW Lort Smith AWLQ AWL SA Dogs Homes of Tasmania SAFE Inc
By Sally Gartside
It is 11 months since I failed. But it all began 16 months ago when Lisa in the foster house asked if I would take a nine month old cat, Ebony, who found herself at the AWLQ with a collar wound. “Sure” I said, which I’m sure they would tell you is my usual response when there is a cat in need.
I didn’t actually ‘meet’ Ebony till I got her home and settled in – what a shock! I had never seen such a large wound on a young cat. I’ll spare you the gruesome details but it started in the middle of her chest, under her arm and back up towards her shoulder. Ouch!! She was in for a long recovery process.
Ebony was a star and we soon got into a routine of cleaning and applying her medicated cream two or three times a day. She would see me get ready and she would come over and lie down at my feet, waiting. She responded very well and settled into life at our house, happily resting with my dogs and making herself at home over the next several months.
Me and my beautiful Ebony
Regular visits to the vet meant that she was a bit of a favourite with all the vet and foster staff. While her wound was healing well, a small section right under her arm would not completely heal due to the amount of scar tissue and movement in the area. The vets tried different approaches but nothing worked. Things were not looking good for her but I think they saw the bond that had formed between Ebony and me: they didn’t give up, and neither did I.
We kept giving it more time.
After a lot of research, Dr Theresia Anderson, the head shelter vet, performed a miracle. Well, we thought it was pretty miraculous. She went above and beyond for Ebony and successfully performed a new surgical procedure – leaving Ebony half shaved, with a drain, a pain patch and 65 stitches and more recovery time needed.
We missed her – so I visited each day and she would get up to greet me every time. Even the dogs visited her and had a sniff through the window! She was a model patient and got the all-clear from the vet to come home after 11 days in the clinic.
During her recovery, both before and after her surgery, Ebony was a ‘big sister’ to all the other foster kittens that spent time with us on the road to their forever homes. Then the time came – she was ready to go and find her forever family.
But was I ready for that?
My first ‘foster failure’. How could I send her back to the shelter pens when she had been with me for almost six months? She had already been through so much and was so settled and happy with life at our place. She had become part of our family. After her fantastic character won everyone over, both at home and at the clinic, how she coped so well with all she went through (easiest cat ever to medicate!), with the success of Dr TheresIa Anderson’s surgery and the support care of the vet staff, and finally finding her forever home …
All of that, to me, is nothing but SUCCESS!!
Help animals who are suffering on puppy farms by taking action to oppose this Bill:
The Criminal Code Amendment (Animal Protection) Bill 2015
(better known as ag-gag legislation).
WHY:
The Bill seeks to prevent animal advocates and welfare groups from documenting inhumane practices on puppy farms, factory farms and other animal industries.
Under this Bill, the recent exposure of animal cruelty within the greyhound racing industry would likely have been a criminal act.
It attempts to silence animal advocates by imposing extremely harsh penalties on anyone who records evidence of malicious animal cruelty without immediately handing over that evidence to authorities.
Often long-term investigations are required to gather evidence of animal abuse. The requirement under this Bill to hand over footage or photos within one business day reduces the capacity to gather evidence and build a case.
It is nearly always undercover investigations by advocates that shed light on mistreatment and abuse, and help bring about much-needed relief for the animals involved.
Exposing the mistreatment of animals is a service. Cruelty to animals is a crime!
Existing trespass and biosecurity laws are sufficiently robust to deal with undercover surveillance events.
Without surveillance, the public have no meaningful way of being informed about how animals are being treated.
Consumer expectations have evolved to require higher levels of transparency and accountability around animal welfare.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
Voice your concerns in an email to the Senate Committee responsible for progressing the Bill to the Senate (Senate Rural and Regional Affairs Committee)
Email address: rrat.sen@aph.gov.au. Email submissions are due by March 12th.
Companion Animal Network Australia’s Positive Ageing in the Care of Animals project continues to reap great results.
Diane Butler recently wrote to tell us how one of the companion animals assisted by our project, a 7-year-old Tonkinese cat called Gemma, brings real and continuing benefits to the life of her mum, Nancy Albon, who resides at the Ozcare Ozanam Villa aged care facility, Burleigh Heads, on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Here’s what Diane had to say:
Gemma was always a very athletic outdoors cat, so we were always a bit worried about how she would adapt to living indoors. Gemma has now been at Ozanam for over two years and, fortunately, she loves all the attention she gets from the residents and staff. She really enjoys the concerts and bus trips, and she even goes to church with Mum. She is a very blessed little cat.
Gemma sits on Mum's walker and they often go and visit the residents in high care, who respond affectionately when Gemma gives them a little kiss on the hand. She is great therapy for the people who are bed-ridden. Mum is known as the Cat Lady -- but everyone knows who Gemma is.
Mum is very content now that she has Gemma for company and they even sit up and watch TV together. Sometimes Gemma likes to play games with Mum, and it’s amazing the places she finds to hide in Mum's room or the wardrobe, as she has worked out how to open and close the doors.
Although Gemma gets plenty of exercise walking on the lead outside, we sometimes send her on a little holiday to the Catarama boarding home where she can run around in an enclosure and climb trees. However this can only be for a couple of days at a time as Mum misses her too much and starts to fret.
The family is forever grateful to Ozanam for allowing Gemma to stay with Mum as she is a great companion and she brings a lot of joy to everyone.
For more information about Australia CAN’s Positive Ageing in the Care of Animals project, go to http://petfriendlyagedcare.com.au/
A large number of Australians describe themselves as ‘animal lovers’.
For many, the term helps to explain their close bond with companion animals such as dogs and cats.
For others, it is a way of expressing the joy and satisfaction that they feel when interacting with wildlife or animals in need of help.
Two South Australian researchers are investigating the perceptions and meanings that we humans attach to our relationships with animals.
Dr Nik Taylor and Dr Heather Fraser of Flinders University in Adelaide say they are keen to dig deeper than stereotypical terms such as ‘animal lover’. They want to know how such people truly feel about their animals and how they describe these relationships.
The study provides the opportunity for participants to represent their stories through photos, poems, videos, paintings, stories and writing.
To this end, the researchers have set up a website where animal lovers can post their accounts, with the emphasis on being creative and having fun.
There have been many amazing posts since the study was launched late last year. Some are sad and others funny, but all of the tales are uplifting.
For example, an animal lover with a psychiatric illness writes about her pet dog: ”When I'm unwell, he stands by me and does not judge. The importance of friendship, love and companionship that my dog provides is beyond words.’’
Typical of many stories is a post headed “I need him as much as he needs me’’, in which a dog owner writes tenderly of the ‘’companionship and therapy’’ that she derives from caring for her pet.
To contribute to this study on the meanings people make of their relationships with animals, you need to be over 15 years of age and respect the welfare and rights of animals.
Visit whatisitaboutanimals.com to find out more.
Introducing Saxon, a beautiful dog who once knew what it was to be homeless and afraid. Now living happily in Tasmania, Saxon is pictured below wearing a Canine Commendation for Service medal, awarded by the Dogs’ Homes of Tasmania in recognition of the hope and joy he brings to kids and staff at Childhood Foundation Tasmania.
Saxon’s award celebrates his gentleness and kindness, helping children and adults feel calm and loved in his presence. Saxon provides hope to all at the Childhood Foundation, teaching trust, tolerance and unconditional love. State Manager of the Childhood Foundation, Caroline Brown explains…
Saxon assists on the ‘counselling team’, helping people on a wide range of issues. In undertaking this work Saxon demonstrates unconditional love and kindness, teaching people about a wide range of emotions including patience, empathy and compassion. He also teaches people about safe relationships and helps them to manage anxiety in home and school settings.
Saxon is in demand by other counsellors who appreciate the way Saxon assists in counselling their own clients. The humans that Saxon works with all love him and request to see him so often that he has his own diary of appointments!
When Saxon is working he comes into the office and he brings with him a calming influence that assists the counsellors and other staff to do what is often difficult and emotionally demanding work. Saxon is a most well behaved and tolerant dog. For example, when we have morning tea in the office he never tries to take food from the table even though it is well within his reach.
He always waits patiently for a little treat to be offered to him, which his numerous “aunties” are more than happy to provide!
Saxon is a valued member of our counselling team and he is a pleasure to have around the office. We are all so proud of his Canine Commendation Award and our thanks go to the Dogs’ Homes of Tasmania for recognising Saxon’s achievements.
