Alice Springs Animal Shelter closes, enters voluntary administration after ‘hardship’
Alice Springs Animal Shelter will close its doors for the last time on Tuesday, just days after the community rallied behind it in a last-ditch effort to keep the charity afloat.
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Alice Springs Animal Shelter has entered voluntary administration after “several months of hardship”, management has revealed on social media.
The shelter announced its decision at 12.30pm Tuesday and said it would close its doors for the final time at 5pm the same day.
It comes just days after the community rallied behind the overwhelmed charity.
A spokesperson for the shelter took to Facebook to say the team had worked through several challenges – including increased costs – to keep the shelter afloat.
“Despite the support we have received from our sponsors, the community, and our key partners, it has become clear that our current operations are untenable,” the spokesperson said.
“Alice Springs Town Council will be stepping in to provide for the immediate needs of our animals, and will be able to organise the collection of boarding animals currently in our care.”
The spokesperson urged anyone with animals currently in the shelter’s boarding facilities to contact the council’s rangers.
How community rallied to help overwhelmed Red Centre shelter
July 16, 5am: A horror day for one Red Centre animal shelter – where more than 15 animals were dumped out the front – has turned into a week of overwhelming support from the community, which the shelter is calling a “huge help”.
On Monday July 8, 22 animals were dropped at the Alice Springs animal shelter, a move which animal attendant Bek King said made the staff feel “defeated”.
“Me along with the other staff members are just at a loss because we’re not really homing, you’re just gaining more and more and more (animals),” she said.
She said the majority that were dumped were cats – 17 of which were dumped out the front at once – with more cats and dogs coming in throughout the day.
“We let the committee know what had happened and they have access to our Facebook so they put the shout out on Facebook that let everyone know what had happened,” she said.
Once the community caught wind the centre was struggling, they were quick to help out – donating heaps of food for the animals, alongside other items such as cat litter.
“Free donations of cat litter are a huge help because we do run low with the amount of animals we’ve got.”
RSPCA NT spokeswoman said it was important those who had to make the difficult decision to move their pets on did the right thing.
“We encourage everyone who has a companion animal or is thinking about getting a companion animal to do their research and do everything they can to give them the best possible life,” they said.
“However, some people may have to make the difficult decision that they cannot keep their pet or that they cannot give them a good quality of life.
“We highly encourage anyone in this position to do what they can to ensure the animal has a good home to go to.”
But for Ms King, the past week’s events has shown something she always thought about the Alice Springs community: they’re always happy to help.
“It’s good to know that we can reach out and it’s that easy,” she said.
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