Sydney Dogs and Cats Home risks closure without funding

Sydney Dogs and Cats Home is on the brink of closure if it cannot secure money to build a new shelter in Kurnell. A government lifeline has helped, but without funding it has no long-term future.

A large animal shelter that reunites and rehomes lost pets for eight council areas is fighting for survival while it desperately lobbies the state government for funding.

The Sydney Dogs and Cats Home is facing the real possibility of having to close down, leaving the potential for 3000 animals per year to be euthanised.

For more than 77 years the organisation has looked after the city’s lost, neglected and abandoned dogs and cats.

It has since grown to be Sydney’s largest charity pound serving eight councils, including Georges River Council and Bayside Council, over 100 suburbs and more than 1.1 million Sydneysiders.

But after the shelter was evicted from its site at Carlton at the beginning of this year it had to enter into a commercial arrangement with an animal boarding provider and run two shelters.

Sydney Dogs and Cats Home is on the brink of closure if it cannot secure money to build a new shelter in Kurnell. Picture: Daniella Cortis

General manager Melissa Penn said the arrangement was not sustainable into the long-term both financially with increased operating costs; and logistically in meeting the growing demands of the shelter with the higher animal intakes and lower adoption rates this year post-Covid.

The shelter was thrown a lifeline in the recent state budget when it was allocated $500,000 but that funding will only allow the organisation to continue operating for another six to 12 months.

Ms Penn said the only long-term solution was to build a new shelter at Kurnell as planned.

“We have the land, we have the approved development application, we just need funding and to that end we have been requesting support from NSW Government,” she said.

“We put in a request to the state government for capital builds funding to construct the shelter, which will cost $15 million.

Atari loves hanging out anywhere there’s water. Picture: Daniella Cortis

“As a charity of our size we can’t fundraise $15 million. We approached the government with a request of $9 million.

“Last week it was confirmed the government will not provide a capital build contribution.”

Ms Penn said if the shelter was to close it would leave a “huge gap in the market” and have dire consequences for pet owners.

“That means 3000 animals would be euthanised rather than rehomed,” she said.

“We are the second largest council-impound service.

“Without us to do that work there is an enormous pressure on other facilities and that will have a huge impact. Since Covid lockdowns ended we have seen an increase in the number of animals requiring care.

Puppy Alice has been waiting over 230 days to be adopted. She is always ready to administer cuddles and licks at a moment’s notice. Picture: Daniella Cortis

“If we are not around, where do all these animals go? What chance do they get? Without us, there is a real risk to people’s pets, and the outcome may mean euthanasia, which is exactly what we try to avoid.

“Without a new shelter we don’t have a future. It leaves council without an option to provide an animal welfare pound service.”

‘We have got to come up with a solution.”

Ms Penn said the RSPCA did not do council impounds.

She said the largest facility, which was local in Blacktown by the council, could not absorb the shelter’s intake.

Ms Penn was disappointed the state government had “passed the buck”, putting the onerous on local governments to provide funding.

Two-year-old Julius has been at the shelter for almost six months – he’s a sweet-natured yet energetic boy. Picture: Daniella Cortis

But Ms Penn said council staff “felt it was a state issue”.

“We know the NSW Local Government Minister, along with councils, are sympathetic to our plight and value the service we provide,” she said.

“We also appreciate there are many demands on government as the state moves on from the pandemic and recent floods.

“However, we have provided critical services for nearly 80 years, and can only continue to do so if we are able to get a funding commitment to build the shelter.”

Ms Penn said the pressure was now on the shelter to come up with a solution and to work with the councils they service which are Georges River, Bayside, Fairfield, Inner West, North Sydney, Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra.

Rangers from those council drop off lost or stray animals and shelter staff try to reunite them with their owners and if that is not possible they attempt to rehome them.

The shelter is working towards a zero euthanasia policy unless the animal is sick.

The state government threw Sydney Dogs and Cats Home a lifeline but without funding the shelter has no long-term future. Picture: Daniella Cortis

Ms Penn said if the shelter closed then when an pet became lost, whether it escaped through an open gate or by digging under a fence, there would not be an organisation to reunite them or rehome, and the pets risked being euthanased.

She said shelter staff had been working towards building a new shelter at Kurnell for four years after it secured Crown land under a peppercorn arrangement. The site had required them to complete a range of environmental reports and submit a development application, which had been approved by Sutherland Shire Council.

Ms Penn said the organisation was working on a public awareness campaign to help save the shelter.

Chico has been at the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home since March – he’s all smiles and wriggly bum whenever he gets to meet a new person. Picture: Daniella Cortis

They will also be trying to fundraise and hope, with resident and council lobbying, the state government will reverse its decision.

“Without the funding we have no long-term future, we can’t continue,” Ms Penn said.

“We really hope both local and state governments see that funding the build of the shelter is the only solution for us to continue helping vulnerable animals in need.”

At Monday night’s Georges River Council meeting, councillor Warren Tegg is expected to raise a notice motion requesting the mayor to contact the other council that rely on the shelter’s service to develop a strategy and action plan for impounding facilities.

He will also ask council staff to lobby state government Minister for Local Government Wendy Tuckerman to secure funding to build a new shelter.