Happy Paws Haven founded by Sally Rogers nominated for Australia Connecting Community award

When a woman moved to the Clarence from Sydney she took her love for animals with her and set up a no-kill animal rescue centre, which has saved thousands of cats and dogs.

A beloved Clarence animal sanctuary which has saved the lives of thousands of cats and dogs has just been nominated for a national award.

Sally Rogers set up Happy Paws Haven in 2006, after moving to the Clarence from Sydney.

Now, her animal sanctuary which has rescued more than 3000 animals has been nominated for an Australia Connecting Community award.

Happy Paws is a no-kill shelter focused on adoptions and reliant on donations and a team of volunteers.

The shelter cares for the animals until a perfect new home is found – no matter how long it takes.

Sally Rogers.

“In Sydney, I had been volunteering for an organisation which was similar, so when I moved up to Grafton I thought I would do the same thing,” Ms Rogers said.

“But there was nothing up here in the Clarence and so I decided to set something up here by myself.”

Ms Rogers set up Happy Paws in Grafton, but soon realised she needed more space for all the cats and dogs the organisation rescued.

She bought acreage at Eatonsville and her organisation only grew from there.

“We can give every animal that comes in here a second chance and a new home – if it wasn’t for Happy Paws, they would probably be dead,” Ms Rogers said.

Dom was a cat who went missing for 10 years before Happy Paws found him and his old owners.

“It’s that simple because the Grafton pound was, and I think still is to some degree, a high kill (euthanase) pound because it’s so full.”

Ms Rogers said many adoptions had stayed with her because “they all have their special stories”, but a few in particular stand out.

“One of the most special involved a dog Ace, who had a limp and we were told he was just bruised,” she said.

Ace receiving surgery in Sydney.

“The limp didn’t get any better so we had him X-rayed and we found he had a deformed leg — that his leg had been broken as a puppy and had grown wrongly.”

Happy Paws sent the dog with one leg five millimetres shorter than the other to Sydney’s Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH) and spent $10,000 on operations.

“We did it because we go the extra mile. We don’t just take them, turn them around and send them out again,” Ms Rogers said.

In the end, a couple from Victoria fell in love with Ace, who remains happy and healthy in his new loving home.

Ace playing with his new best friend in Melbourne.

The Australia Connecting Community awards shine a light on grassroots initiatives enhancing communities.

The nomination for Happy Paws states: “Happy Paws Haven has an excellent reputation within the local community and many parts of Australia for our ongoing commitment and care of ensuring the animals are healthy and happy, while waiting to be adopted into a forever, loving home.”

“(Happy Paws also) welcomes school groups, TAFE, NDIS clients, special needs kids, youngsters wanting work experience, with the goal of teaching them how to care for and respect animals as sentient beings,” it reads.

“(It has) also worked with Indigenous groups who have requested help with animal concerns in their community.”

Nominations close on August 24 and the award winners will be announced on November 25.