A SANCTUARY for healing animals in need is facing the prospect of leaving the Yarra Valley for greener pastures as funding and feed becomes scarcer.
Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary in Hoddles Creek will be packing up and moving from the Yarra Valley some time this year, after financial difficulties halted the sanctuary’s animal intake.
Owner of the animal sanctuary Kathy Munslow said that, while she loves the area, there was no other alternative for the charity to continue caring for animals.
“The property now is too small for the number of animals,” she said.
“To continue, there has to be a bigger property.
“I have no personal desire to move at all, but things have been pretty challenging.”
The Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary takes care of animals that have been affected by illness or injury and is run entirely on public donations, which have become strained.
The sanctuary grounds have also been subject to over-grazing by the animals, which include horses, pigs, dogs, cats and an alpaca, and cannot be recovered with current finances.
Ms Munslow said that she’s inspected more than 300 properties online and is looking for a cheaper area to move to, but she needs help to tend to the grounds and make them presentable to sell.
“The grounds would look so much better with a little bit of help,” she said.
“Doing it all on my own is a bit hard and there must be people in the area that could spare some time to help out with some gardening.”
Ms Munslow said that people have been incredibly supportive of Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary and hopes to receive donations to transport the animals to a new property.
“If it wasn’t for the public, the animals wouldn’t be here to begin with,” she said.
For more information about volunteering time or donating, call Kathy Munslow at Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary on 5967 4279 or visit www.gunyah.org/relocation.
