Bring a rescue pet into your family home | Paws for Thought
These days, typically, a decent amount of research goes into adopting a pet for the family.
Thankfully, many of us realise that adopting a family pet is a 15-year commitment and therefore it is a big decision to get right. Unfortunately in many cases, and often due to poor choices, many of these newly purchased or adopted pets end up on the streets and in animal shelters.
The good news is that pet rescue organisations are able to visit shelters and save many of these unwanted animals from a grave situation. Pet rescue groups give provision for unwanted animals to be vet checked, temperament tested, desexed, vaccinated and microchipped then be housed in foster care before receiving a second chance in a more suited family.
Consider a rescue animal before looking to adopt a pet. The Albury-Wodonga Pound is a great first stop. They have a program committed to supporting local unwanted animals in getting great homes, at a subsidised cost. Some pet rescue organisations have taken things one step further and extend financial assistance to people in the community to assist them in getting their animals desexed. Dunroamin Pet Rescue is a terrific organisation that does just this. Their fundraising efforts assist in supporting a desexing program that targets reducing the number of animals generated through unwanted or accidental pregnancy.
This program carries huge weight in our community through reducing the feral cat population and in turn reducing the pressure on our animal shelters. Members of the Border community looking to help can extend support for unwanted pet programs in many ways:
- Consider adopting a pet from centres such as the Albury-Wodonga Pound, Dunroamin Pet Rescue or Wodonga Dog Rescue.
- Contact Dunroamin Pet Rescue or Petfocus Vetcare if you are looking to get your pet desexed and need financial assistance.
- Reach out to other members of the community who may not be in a financial position to get their cats desexed, to let them know about Dunroamin's Pet Rescue Desexing program.Together as a community, we can limit the number of homeless and unwanted pets on the Border.
Dr Renee Pigdon, Petfocus Vetcare