Spring pet 'tsunami' at RSPCA
SPRING is the begining of a heartbreaking period for RSPCA shelter manager Vicki Beer, when enormous numbers of puppies and kittens are dumped on her doorstep.
Ballina
Don't miss out on the headlines from Ballina. Followed categories will be added to My News.
SPRING – for most people it is just another season, but for RSPCA shelter manager Vicki Beer, it’s the begining of a heartbreaking period when enormous numbers of puppies and kittens are dumped on her doorstep.
Throughout spring and summer, Ms Beer and her tireless team of volunteers are lumped with thousands of animals and plenty of excuses for why they have been dumped.
“It happens every year,” she said.
“No matter what we say or do, it’s always the same.”
Ms Beer said stopping the massive influx was as simple as taking your dog or cat to be desexed, but many people refused to follow the advice, instead burdening the RSPCA with the responsibility of either finding the animals homes or being forced to put them down.
“We can get up to 30 kittens a day during the summer,” Ms Beer said.
“Spring and summer, that’s when the kitten tsunami hits.”
While she said the number of dumped kittens was always higher, Ms Beer said it was not rare to see several puppy litters come in each day.
“If we even get two litters a day, that is a lot to take on,” she said.
“We’ve had a litter of 11 (puppies) come in once.”
Sadly, the number of abandoned animals far outweighs the number of adoptions.
“We’ve even lowered the (adoption) prices,” Ms Beer said.
“Puppies are meant to be $365 and we sell them for $350 with a bag of food and adults are meant to be $315 but we sell them for $250.
“People just won’t pay the prices in Bundaberg.”
Ms Beer said she could not stress enough the importance of desexing dogs and cats.
“Just get them desexed.
“It (the influx of animals) just keeps happening all the time,” she said.
“It feels like I’m knocking my head against a brick wall.”
Originally published as Spring pet 'tsunami' at RSPCA
Sydney’s top real estate young guns of past year
Sydney and NSW’s biggest property deal-makers under 35 have been revealed, with some pocketing millions a year in their 20s.
Try of the year contenders light up NRRRL
There were some serious fireworks as two rivals produced some absolutely stunning tries in an entertaining NRRRL clash. Watch one of the brilliant tries here.