Forever together

Martin required urgent hospitalisation and was faced with surrendering his dog Poppy, an 11 year old terrier. Poppy had been with Martin since she was a pup. She was his constant, and sometimes only, companion. Poppy knew no other home than Martin’s, and as they spent almost every minute of each day together, she pined for him when he was not around.

Martin was a pensioner and could not afford to board Poppy in a commercial kennel for the duration of his expected stay in hospital. He had no family nearby and few friends. Due to poor health and a disability, Martin found himself socially isolated with little support.

It is often people in Martin’s situation, the vulnerable members of our community, who rely most heavily on their animals for companionship and support. These animals are often extremely devoted, able to spend all of their waking moments with their owner.

The benefits of pet ownership in general are widely known, but the benefits for socially isolated individuals cannot be underestimated. A pet can literally be their whole life.

At RSPCA ACT we do not believe that a treasured pet should be forced from their loving home simply because circumstances have changed temporarily for their owner. We offer emergency boarding for pets of people such as Martin. We feed, groom, exercise, cuddle and provide veterinary care for them while they are separated from their owner. We also take them to hospital for visits while the owner is recuperating. It is hard to describe the joy that our staff see in both the owner and their animal while they are briefly reunited. We care for their beloved pet so that they can be reunited permanently when they are able.

How do we fund this type of work? Events like Million Paws Walk see funds raised to help all sorts of animals, from those who are looking for a new home, to those who already have a loving home but are going through a rough patch.

Register to walk today and help us keep families together http://act.millionpawswalk.com.au/

Killing with kindness

Canberra truly is the Bush Capital, with an enormous range of native animals on our doorstep. We have a vast range of birdlife, from small finches to majestic wedge tailed eagles, and observing them in our backyards and our parks is a pleasure that most Canberran’s can enjoy on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, many residents try to attract native birds to their yard by providing food or setting up feeding stations. This kind of interaction with wildlife can prove deadly to the animal in more ways than one:

• Animals may come to rely on your unnatural food source, and therefore lose the ability to forage on their own

• Large flocks of birds will gather to feed and birds like cockatoos can be quite destructive and disruptive

• Feeding stations can quickly become breeding grounds for disease

All types of parrots including galahs, rosellas, corellas, and cockatoos can be affected by psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD).

Psittacine beak and feather disease is a debilitating disease. It is highly contagious and can be spread through feather dust and faeces. It is comparable to the human AIDS virus as it suppresses the immune system. The disease fighting ability of the birds is compromised and any small illness could prove fatal.

The side effects of PBFD include deformed feather growth which leads to baldness, and beak and nail overgrowth. The beak of a diseased bird can grow so long that the bird can no longer feed itself, meaning that it will eventually starve to death.

Birds may exhibit some or all of the symptoms of PBFD such as baldness, overgrown beak, severe weight loss, and the inability to fly. At the point where the birds are no longer able to fly, the disease has completely taken over and starvation is likely to follow shortly afterward. At this point, birds are also very vulnerable to predators.

Please help stop the spread of this terrible disease by ceasing to use feeding stations. Rather than providing food for native birds, instead allow them to exhibit their natural foraging behaviours by planting native plants in your yard.

Another wonderful Spring

Wow, time again to update you on our latest activities and events, and of course, enjoy the experience of another wonderful Spring.

Spring is a fantastic time of year and everyone in Canberra comes out of hibernation, and we enjoy the new blooms and unfortunately at RSPCA we see lots of unwanted litters of kittens arriving at our shelter. We are gearing up for this, and will be running an extensive campaign to encourage desexing and that these neo natal kittens desperately need their mothers, and should remain with their mother for their first vital weeks.

We continue to be busy here with new dogs and cats arriving every day, and many of them have been here for quite a long time. We can do with your help to encourage your friends, family and associates to adopt their new friend from RSPCA, and not only give one of our animals a new home, but also assist us to provide care for the thousands of animals that come to the shelter every year.

As the weather warms we are encouraged by our Inspectors to raise awareness of providing some of the basics for your dog. We need to make sure that all your pets have plenty of large water containers, and our inspectors recommend having multiple sources in case one fails. Too often they see water left in a metal container in the sun, and not only is the bowl hot, but the water evaporates quickly.

They also have a lot of calls from dogs that have accidentally gotten themselves tangled, around objects and bushes in the yard, or inadequate shelter from the sun.  Dogs should not be tied up too closely to the fence line – they can jump and hang themselves.  Dogs do die in hot cars but also can die very quickly if they end up tangled without being able to access water and shelter.     

Enjoy this great weather, and all the fun of Spring, and we will bring you updates on all of the festivities and activities that will occur towards the end of the year, and we hope you will join us.

What a busy year!

It has been a while since we have blogged our readers – so much has kept us busy, but we are back again, and will be keeping you up to date each month so you can enjoy reading about life at RSPCA ACT and the animals and activities that keep us busy every day. Here are a few things that we have been doing and some that are on the horizon.

We had a very successful Million Paws Walk (MPW) with over 12,000 people attending and about 6,000 dogs, and a number of cats and rats. We raised record funds from registrations, sponsors and stalls, and we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day!

No sooner were we packing up MPW than we started planning and promoting our Cupcake Day – the sweetest event of the year. This is a fun event, where our supporters bake cupcakes and sell them throughout the month to their friends and family. This year we hope to raise over $100K, which equates to 55,000 cupcakes sold. Standby for the update of our achievements, thanks to the support of people just like you.

Our staff have been busy re-homing numerous animals throughout the year. We have had lots of happy outcomes, and continue to encourage the community to adopt rather than shop. There are smiles all round when one of the animals finds their forever family, and it isn’t just the staff and the new owners! Our Wildlife team have had their hands full with a range of species being brought to the shelter, with injuries from car strike or domestic pet attack. We have noticed an increase in Kookaburra’s and Owls and feel this may be due to the increase in rodents in Canberra, and hence an increased food supply. Many local resident are advising us that they are certainly hearing the call of the Kookaburra throughout the day, and feeling a part of our unique bush capital.

Kitten season is again fast approaching, and even out of season we have had a number of litters arriving at the shelter – perhaps the unusual weather conditions have contributed to the change. We recently had three two day old kittens left overnight at the shelter surviving the freezing conditions in a shoe box! One of our staff volunteered to take on the role of foster mother, and has nurtured the little ones to eight weeks old.

They are tiny for their age, but they are doing well, and their “mother” deserves lots of congratulations, and is proud of her tiny charges for being so tough.

We would like to take a moment to thank all of our supporters, volunteers, staff and the community providing us with their time and financial assistance, to allow us to continue to deliver our products and services, and put smiles on so many faces – animals and people.

A look back at 2010

2010 was our busiest year on record.
We supported more animals, investigated more cruelty complaints and supported more families in crisis than ever before. We also remained very active in our push for improved animal welfare legislation in the ACT for companion, production and wild animals.

In total, 8,371 animals were cared for by RSPCA ACT.

We adopted 2214 animals, which represents an increase of three percent from last year.

The most popular breed that came into RSPCA was the Staffy.

We managed 3,224 incoming wild animals. This represents an increase of 10 percent over last year.

We investigated 1,211 complaints made by the public concerning animals in distress.

Your support and dedication have helped save the lives of many animals and we would like to thank you for helping us. We have high aims for 2011 and we hope we can count on your ongoing support again this year.

The amazing raise

Indy, Reef, Jive and Stella came to RSPCA when they were only four weeks old - a very young age to be away from their mother. Still too young to eat solid food and still learning how to behave like cats, these kittens needed constant attention and socialising so they could grow into healthy cats. 

As part of RSPCA ACT foster program, Caroline took them under her wing to give them the care they needed until they were old enough to be adopted. "What an amazing month it was," she said.

"There is something very special about caring for four little animals. You really feel that you are giving them the best chance to survive. It goes without saying that feeding, cleaning and entertaining four kittens was very demanding, but seeing them put on weight each day as they learned to care for themselves was truly magical."

"Of course, the separation day was emotional," she said. "But knowing that I had helped raise and socialise kittens that would now be part of someone’s family was a very rewarding experience."

Indy, Reef, Jive and Stella’s story is fairly common here at RSPCA ACT. As the kitten season hits the shelter again, RSPCA is looking for new carers. Not only does fostering help RSPCA help more kittens, it also provides live-saving care to the animals most at risk in the shelter.

Things to consider before applying to be a foster carer for kittens aged 2-8 weeks:

• Can you commit for at least two weeks?
• Do you have access to a quiet room (it can be the bathroom), away from other animals?
• Can you spare at least one or two hours per day to socialise your foster kittens?

Things to consider before applying to be a foster carer for neonates:
Orphaned neonates are kittens under two weeks who need to be bottle fed and toileted every three hours and also toileted.

• Can you feed your kittens every three hours?
• Are you prepared to wake up in the middle of the night to feed and toilet your kittens?
• Do you have access to a quiet room (it can be the bathroom), away from other animals?

CEO Michael Linke bottle-feeding a two-week-old kitten

If you are interested in becoming a foster carer for RSPCA ACT, please contact Victoria on 1 300 4RSPCA. 

Pets Party this Saturday

Event Aims at Raising More Funds for Increasing Number of Animals at the Shelter

Join other dog owners this Saturday and celebrate the start of the summer at the RSPCA ACT Pets Party.

The highly anticipated event returns for its 6^th year and promises to deliver fun for everyone – including furry friends.

RSPCA ACT CEO, Michael Linke says: “Pets Party is a fantastic opportunity to visit the shelter while having a great time with other dog lovers.”

Some of the highlights of Pets Party include:

• ·           Lucky door prize of two tickets for the RSPCA Ball

• ·         Many games for dogs as well as the popular Pup Idol competition

• ·         Several stalls including Paws Cafe, RSPCA merchandise and dog washing service.

• ·         Music, BBQ, drinks, exclusive discounts and many more…

All proceeds made on the day will greatly help RSPCA ACT to cope with the increasing number of animals needing care during the busy holiday period. 

Each year, the RSPCA ACT cares for more than 8,500 domestic and wildlife animals.

Pets Party details:

Date: Saturday 20 November 2010, 11am-2pm
Location: RSPCA ACT, 12 Kirkpatrick Street, Weston ACT,2611
Entry: Gold coin donation

The faces of Happy Tails Day

We have just received the Happy Tails Day merchandise and what a delightful surprise it was to see some of our pets representing RSPCA’s success stories nationally.

Mirrhi, Breeze, Eddie and Wesley came through our doors for different reasons. From unwanted to abused, these pets found their way to RSPCA ACT where food, shelter and most importantly love were provided. 

Since then, they have been adopted and are now living with caring families. 

The Happy Tails Day pets are the reason we do what we do. Without the ongoing support of the community we would not be able to care for many of them, so thank you.

Below are their stories:

Mirrhi

Mirrhi is a good example of the importance of socialising dogs when they are young. When Mirrhi first came to the RSPCA ACT shelter, she had obviously not been given the opportunity to explore the world. As a result, she lacked confidence in everyday life. Initially Mirrhi was so scared that she would not even walk outside her kennel. After intense rehabilitation, her confidence has grown and although she can still be a little shy at times, she is now a very loving, sweet natured and highly active companion.

Wesley 
Wesley was brought in by a woman who had purchased his littermate from a breeder.  When she arrived at Canberra airport to pick up her new kitten, she discovered two in the cage. She brought the second kitten, now named Wesley into the RSPCA.

Wesley now lives with three dogs and actually considers himself to be one of them, often wrestling with them and chasing them around the house. Wesley has also visited nursing homes where he is quite popular with the residents.

Eddie

Eddie when he first arrived at RSPCA

RSPCA Inspectors were alerted to Eddie’s plight by concerned neighbours. During the investigation, inspectors discovered him in a severely neglected state. He was extremely emaciated, with no access to food or water, and was desperately trying to stay alive by eating sand.

After a long recuperation period and the conviction of Eddie’s owner for animal neglect, RSPCA was ready to help Eddie find his forever home. Eddie soon found his place on a rural property in NSW where he spends his time ‘helping’ Dad with his daily chores. His new family describes him as “the most perfect pup in the world”.

Breeze
Breeze was left at the RSPCA anonymously overnight with her brother in tow. It quickly became clear that, while she tolerated her brother’s presence, she had no experience with other dogs and was reacting negatively if they came to close. Breeze’s willingness to learn and take direction, combined with the dedication of RSPCA staff, soon saw her looking at other dogs as potential playmates, and before long, her enjoyment at meeting a new friend was rivalled by no-one. Breeze now lives a life of luxury, accompanying her new owner to work, getting all the cuddles she deserves, playing with her doggy friends at every opportunity, while making more friends every day.

Happy Tails Day - 8 October 2010 - is a celebration of the animals that make our lives better and a great way to support the work of the RSPCA.

You can help by purchasing your Happy Tails Day merchandise during September and October from the RSPCA shelter in Weston, or from one of our retail partners: BigW, newsXpress, selected Hill's vet clinics, Bendigo Bank and Peter Alexander.


What is your happy tail?

Local Musos strut their stuff for the love of our 4 legged friends!

By Andrew Rickard
Battle of the Backyard Bands 2010  - Proudly supporting RSPCA ACT

Canberra Music Workshop has kindly volunteered to host the first ever Battle of the Backyard Bands, with all proceeds going to RSPCA ACT. The event offers amateur musicians in Canberra the opportunity to gain recognition and experience while fundraising for RSPCA ACT.

Each Thursday night until October 7, local bands and other musical acts will perform.

The Battle is on from 7 until 10 pm Thursday nights at the Canberra Deakin Football Club and is already well on the way to its fundraising target of $10,000.

School bands also welcome. There are several spots still available for entries and we encourage any amateur musical act to enter - all welcome. Contact Andrew on 0450 960 750.

Local businesses have supported the event to ensure excellent prizes are provided including a PA worth over $2,600 from Pro Audio and studio time to cut a 6 song demo from Rudesounds studio.

The idea is that each week a heat will be held featuring 3 acts and a winner chosen by a judging panel.  The winners (10 of them) will compete for the grand prize at a final event on Saturday 30 October.

RSPCA ACT provides a charitable service to all residents in our nation’s capital but we can’t do it alone. We need to work with everyone in the community to secure much-needed funds and keep our mission, to prevent cruelty to animals by actively promoting their care and protection alive.

I really do hope that you will choose to support this exciting event through notifying your audience and community announcements.  If you would like any additional information on the event please contact me on 0450 960 750, email cmw@grapevine.com.au  or about the work done by RSPCA ACT please contact RSPCA ACT on 1 300 4RSPCA.

Battle of the Backyard Bands Website


Regards Andrew

10 reasons why you should become a Political Animal

In the lead up to the federal election, RSPCA Australia has created a website called Political Animal. The website gives abundant information on important campaigns that RSPCA is running in areas we would like to see positive outcomes. Issues like food labelling, humane slaughter, live exports and puppy factories have been discussed with various political parties and we are now encouraging you to take the lead by becoming an active supporter.
Here are 10 reasons why we think you should become a Political Animal today:
1.    Be the voice for the voiceless
2.    Help RSPCA with urgent animal welfare  issues
3.    Be informed on issues that you care about
4.    Influence political decisions
5.    Have your say on what you think is important
6.    Become politically active
7.    Show your support for RSPCA
8.    Help educate the community on animal welfare
9.    Find out how to address your prospective representatives
10.  It’s free
Of course, who you vote for on August 21 is important as you are voting for a Federal MP that will represent you on various issues that are likely to influence future laws.

Take the lead!

What animal welfare issues are you concerned about and why?