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?

Punish Deed, Not Breed

CEO of RSPCA ACT Michael Linke wished Harry, the Maltese cross attacked by two dogs over the weekend, a speedy recovery.

“My thoughts first go to Harry and of course to the family who have suffered this horrendous attack.  I am always saddened when I hear about a dog attacking another dog or a human. Dog attacks simply should not happen and would not happen if it wasn’t for a handful of irresponsible dog owners. That’s the ban we really need – on owners not dogs.  

“Why were these dogs out of their backyard? Where was the owner?  Why weren’t they on leads?”

Governments and Councils need to have in place appropriate legislation to protect the community against potentially dangerous dogs and in the ACT we have very good laws.  We don’t believe banning a specific breed is the answer.  We need laws to protect responsible owners and weed out irresponsible owners and ensure no dog that could pose a danger is ever homed in the ACT.  RSPCA has well framed and defined policies on this issue.  Any dog is capable of any deed and as such all dogs should be screened for aggression, not any one specific breed.

“We screen every dog we home at RSPCA for aggression, and if we believe the dog poses a threat we will not home the dog.” Michael concluded.

Wildlife recovery rates jump by over 35%

CEO of RSPCA ACT Michael Linke today released figures for the work undertaken by RSPCA in the 2009/10 financial year in relation to Native Wildlife.
“We again worked with more animals this year than we did last year, working with 3,286 native animals, a slight increase over last year, where we worked with 3,220.  The really positive thing for RSPCA was that our release and recovery rate jumped by over 35%, which shows our commitment to high quality care.
“We have made numerous changes to the manner in which we provide care for native animals.  We have invested in further skilling of our staff, invested in infrastructure and totally revamped our care models.  This has meant that we released 289 more animals this year than last year, an increase of 35%.
“I would like to congratulate our staff and volunteers who have worked tremendously hard and our results are a testament to this hard work.
“I would also like to thank the community for its ongoing support of RSPCA.  The coming 12 months will see us continue to face many challenges.  The biggest challenge facing us continues to be the dramatic number of native animals coming to us as a result of unnecessary human interference.
“We now need to work with the community with a view to reducing this intake as most animals come to us as a result of unnecessary human interference.  In total more than half of the native animals are presented to us after being hit by a vehicle or being attacked by a family pet (dog or cat).
“RSPCA is more than a cats and dogs organisation.  We have a dedicated team of wildlife staff supported by our veterinary clinic and over 50 trained carers living in Canberra providing around the clock care.
“RSPCA ACT is the sole licensed carer in the ACT and we would urge all Canberrans who come across an injured native animal to bring it to us.  It is an offence to take the animal across the border or to keep the animal in your own care.

Health tip: No Bones About It

This may surprise you - but did you know that bones can be unsafe for your dog?

The list of reasons why you should not feed bones to your dog is long and many professionals argue that there are not many benefits to it. According to RSPCA ACT Senior Vet Shauna O'Meara, “not every dog will have a problem, but if they do it will be an expensive one.” Amongst the most common problems caused by bones are broken teeth, mouth injuries, choking, constipation and bacterial infections.

Many dog owners feed bones to their dogs either because they want to keep them occupied or because they think it will clean their teeth. While alternatives such as manual teeth cleaning or the use of bone-like products have been proven to be more effective and safer, some owners still choose to feed their dog bones.

If you decide to do so, there are a few things you can do which may help to prevent a visit to the vet. “Never feed cooked bones,” Shauna said, adding that it is important to throw away bones that have been in the yard for more than 24 hours to minimise the chances of bacterial infections.

For your chance to win a Hyundai Getz or a 50" plasma TV or a $1000 travel voucher or a $100 Myer Gift Card, simply buy a of bag of Hill's Prescription Diet or Science Diet Oral care from RSPCA ACT.

RSPCA ACT issues FINANCIAL YEAR companion animal statistics

CEO of RSPCA ACT Michael Linke today released figures for the work undertaken by RSPCA in the 2009/10 financial year concerning companion animals.

“We again worked with more companion animals this year than we did last year, working with just over 5,000 animals for the first time in our 55 year history. We handled 5,045 companion animals in total last year, and in the most recent 12 months we worked with 4,748, an increase of 6%.”

“I would like to congratulate our staff and volunteers who have worked tremendously hard and our results are a testament to this hard work. We home animals with greater success than any other RSPCA and our shelter is a wonderful place to visit when you are thinking of adopting an animal. Despite the economic down turn and an increase in demand across all services, we just continue to improve. I am incredibly proud of our team.”
Of the 5,045 companion animals, 1,583 were dogs (1,563 last year, +1%), and 2,707 cats (2,612, last year, +4%). We worked with 755 (730 last year, +3%) other companion animals. Other animals include rabbits, rodents, guinea pigs, birds and fowl.

Our already strong commitment to homing animals remains constant and we continue to be the leading RSPCA across Australia in terms of finding homes for abandoned pets.

We boast the highest homing rate for dogs across Australian RSPCAs, 94%. Keeping this rate high is very important to us, but we also realise that not every dog that comes to RSPCA will be able to find a home. Some dogs come to us in very poor condition or with very poor social skills. Our staff and volunteers do everything they can to ensure a dog becomes homable and the fact that we find homes for 94% (92% in 2008/9) of unwanted dogs proves our commitment to this cause.

Every dog is given every change, there are no arbitrary time limits, no unrealistic expectations, just caring people doing what they do best, correcting other people mistakes and taking pride in the work they do, every day of the year. We enjoy an excellent working relationship with the local pound, where dogs are regularly exchanged to give them the best chance of finding a home.

Our work with cats is also a very successful program and we boast a homing rate of over 64% for domestic cats, almost 30% better than the average homing rate across Australia. During this year’s kitten season we saw a tremendous volume of kittens, some 1,000 kittens (compared to 800 last year). Sadly many of these kittens succumbed to a particularly severe season of cat flu and we lost more kittens than expected. Despite this we homed 784 kittens, 3% more than last year.

In total during the financial year we found new homes for 2,138 animals and reunited 978 lost animals with their owners.

A little help goes a long way

For some pet owners in the Canberra community, a little help goes a long way.

Through its Pet Support Program, RSPCA ACT is helping many people, who in normal circumstances would have to surrender their pets.

Whether pet owners are going through a difficult time or are physically unable to provide general care for their pet, RSPCA ACT can provide them with physical assistance such as walking their dogs or temporarily placing their pet with a foster carer.

However, to run such a valuable program, volunteer help is crucial. Being a non-profit organisation, RSPCA ACT relies on more than 500 volunteers to assist with the important job of caring for animals so they can reach a better quality of life. Always in search of more volunteers, RSPCA ACT has a number of opportunities for people wishing to get involved.

For more information about volunteering at RSPCA ACT, please email mcobb@rspca-act.org.au

Adopting an older pet

When Lyla, an adorable six-year-old cat who had been at RSPCA ACT since December, finally went to a new forever home last weekend, all our staff were very happy. As our staff strongly believe in RSPCA ACT’s mission to re-home every healthy animal that comes through our doors, it is always emotional when pets leave with their new families after a long shelter life.

Usually age is the reason why one animal is here longer than another one. In fact, our staff frequently wonder why some exceptional pets are still with us after so many months.

While most people want to adopt kittens or puppies, adopting an older pet also has its fair share of advantages. More often than not, older pets will already be house-trained, saving new owners time and frustration. Owners are also more likely to end up with a pet that truly suits their lifestyle, because it is easier to assess an older animal’s behaviour as their character is fully developed.

Take, for example, O’Malley and Kerwin, two mature cats who are currently at our shelter. Five-year-old O’Malley was surrendered by his owners because they were moving house and could not take him. Soon after, O’Malley was diagnosed with ear cancer and as a result, had his ears amputated. Still beautiful and happy, O’Malley has been here for a few months, but would no doubt suit a couple or a family with teenagers looking for a friendly cat who loves attention.

Kerwin, another five-year-old, is an affectionate Persian male who would be happy in a family where he could be the king of the house. A good-looking cat, Kerwin was recently adopted, but was surrendered again because of his attitude toward another cat already living in the same house.  Due to his breed, Kerwin requires a lot of grooming, but would be an ideal companion for a cat-lover with a little spare time.

Next time, when considering adopting a pet, why not look at older pets like O’Malley and Kerwin?

A walk at the RSPCA ACT shelter: the vet clinic

If there is one place at the shelter where things never happen the same way twice, it is the veterinary clinic. With an average of 20 animals being taken care of each day, it is not surprising that RSPCA ACT vets and nurses have so many interesting stories to tell in between saving lives.

Having a veterinary clinic on site is a huge benefit for the shelter and plays an important role. By doing most surgeries and checks here at the Weston shelter, money is saved and used to take care of even more animals.

In addition to vet checks conducted when animals first arrive at the RSPCA ACT, the vet clinic is responsible for de-sexing shelter pets to ensure they cannot reproduce and contribute to the overpopulation problem. Surgeries for sick or injured pets and wildlife are also part of the routine.

As well as providing an essential service for the shelter, RSPCA ACT’s vet clinic offers reasonably priced services to members of the community and in some cases assistance for those who do not have the necessary funds to pay full vet fees for their domestic animals.

Asked about an example of something unusual that happened recently, Manager Jane Gregor recalls a surgery where a pair of jeans had to be removed from a bull terrier’s stomach…and the dog survived.