Gold Coast AWL full of creatures big and small

THEIR pens are heaving with cats and dogs but no creature great or small is discriminated against by the Gold Coast’s biggest animal shelter.

Brooke Whitney with pet rats, up for adoption at the Animal Welfare League. Pic Jono Sear

THEIR pens are heaving with cats and dogs but no creature great or small is discriminated against by the Gold Coast’s biggest animal shelter.

AWL Animals for adoption.

The Animal Welfare League centre houses some weird and wonderful pets seeking homes, and is currently looking to adopt out five rats, a pair of pigeons, a few roosters and half-a-dozen guinea pigs.

Eliza and Emerald, a pair of female rats, are the most recent “pocket critters” — as they are known in the shelter — to call the Coombabah centre their temporary home, but they’re not the weirdest.

AWL Animals for adoption.

Stray or unwanted peacocks, pigs, parrots and goats regularly make stopovers at the shelter, Brooke Whitney, of AWL Queensland, confirmed.

“We predominantly take in cats and dogs but we don’t discriminate,” she said.

“We often take in farm animals from people who are relocating or downsizing and sometimes we’ll have as many as six peacocks, for example.”

Strange animals tend to come in flocks, Ms Whitney said, recalling an influx of pigs a few years ago when miniature pigs became trendy pets.

AWL Animals for adoption.

“People would buy them thinking they were miniature then they grew to full size and weren’t wanted any more.”

The shelter has room for up to 70 cats and the same number of dogs.