Animal Rescue Coffs Harbour (ARCH) has seen an unsettling increase in people surrendering pets over the past twelve months.

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A common reason is moving into a rental which doesn’t allow pets.

“In NSW, landlords can still include a clause in individual tenancy agreements that bans pets as a condition of the lease,” ARCH President Heather Watkins told News Of The Area.
“This needs to urgently change.

“There is a lot of instability in the community in terms of housing and employment, which sadly also impacts our companion animals.”

ARCH Treasurer Vanessa Read told NOTA the current financial climate was contributing to the trend.

“When people’s circumstances change, they don’t always have a lot of options available to them anymore,” she said.

“It’s been heartbreaking to see our local pounds full to capacity of dumped, stray and unclaimed pets.

“There seems to be no end to it at the moment.”

Rescue centres traditionally see peaks and troughs in adoption enquiries, and right now, there is a definite downturn, according to the ARCH team.

ARCH Secretary Vanna Racklyeft stressed the importance of desexing pets.

“Going right back to basics, desexing is still a huge issue,” ARCH Secretary Vanna Racklyeft told NOTA.

“We see many kittens and puppies being born that are unexpected and unwanted.

“The cost of annual vaccinations, regular parasite prevention, and of course, desexing, must be taken into account when considering giving a home to a companion animal,” she said.

ARCH’s recent cat desexing program was inundated with requests and resulted in over 300 cats in our region being sterilised.

“If more companion animals were being desexed, this situation we’re seeing now – of pounds and rescues at constant capacity – wouldn’t be as bad, or as tragic, as it currently is,” said Heather.

Sally Rogers is the founder of Happy Paws Haven in Eatonsville in the Clarence Valley.

“We’re getting 15-20 calls a day from people asking us to rehome their pets,” she told NOTA.

Some of the calls are from interstate pet rescues, who are also at capacity, seeking placement for homeless animals.

“The most common reason is the cost of feeding their pet, let alone regular tick treatments and any vet bills.

“Then there are people losing their homes; they are either homeless or going into a rental where animals are not allowed.”

Prior to Covid, Happy Paws Haven was rehoming around 200 cats and dogs a year.

To date in July 2024 there have been just 50 adoptions and finding homes is getting harder every day, Sally said.

“Due to the cost-of-living, our volunteers are getting jobs and going back to work.

“Our resources are drying up; times are tough,” she said.

Sally suggests three ways the community can help animal rescue centres: “volunteer, donate or adopt”.

Anyone interested can contact Sally at Happy Paws Haven by phoning 0419404766 or emailing happypawshaven@bigpond.com.

Contact ARCH via www.animalrescue.org.au or the ARCH Facebook page.

By Andrea FERRARI