By Callum Ludwig
Forever Friends Animal Rescue (FFAR) is continuing to combat demand for services at capacity as our furry friends are consistently finding themselves left without a home.
According to the most recent PetRescue State of Pet Adoption Report for 2022-2023, rescue groups were the only participant (also including councils, vets and shelters) to not report a substantial increase in the number of pets adopted, indicating the high demand on these organisations.
Director and Founder of FFAR Saskia Adams said in the 16 years she’s been volunteering in the animal rescue sector, she’s never seen the plight of homeless animals in the community as dire as it is right now.
“Following Covid and the world returning to some normalcy, the number of animals being dumped and surrendered is unprecedented and devastating,” she said.
“Adoptions are also at an all-time low and animal welfare organisations like ours just don’t have enough resources to meet the need, and volunteers are burnt out and exhausted.”
90 out of 145 respondents in the Pet Rescue report rated their levels of compassion fatigue above a seven (on a scale from 1 being never to 10 being always) though 70 per cent still expressed ‘general satisfaction’ in their work.
Ms Adams said right now the number of dogs and puppies they’re seeing dumped has skyrocketed.
“Some of these dogs entering our care are in terrible condition, emaciated from lack of adequate nutrition, or they haven’t been taken to the vet for basic essential treatments so we are certainly seeing the cost of living crisis having an effect on animals too,” she said.
“Our number one need right now is to have more animal lovers in the community join our volunteer team as foster carers, every foster carer means another life saved,”
“Forever Friends provides all veterinary care, food and toys to our foster carers, so there is no financial outlay and we also provide 24/7 behavioural and medical support if there are any issues, we want to set everyone up to succeed and make fostering fun.”
PetRescue’s report found the overall median days before adoption was 14.09 for cats and 20.94 for dog, an improvement from 15.7 for cats and 21.21 for dogs in 2021-22.
Ms Adams said volunteers can sign up to give respite, short-term or longer-term care to a rescue animal.
“We’re in particular need of puppy carers, and those with room for medium to large dogs at the moment, fostering can be anything from a weekend to several months, until an animal is adopted,” she said.
“Cats can be one of the easiest pets to foster, as there’s no chilly winter walks involved, and they do well in units and apartments, no matter your lifestyle, we can find a rescue animal to suit your situation,”
“While some people fear fostering would be too hard, as you would get attached to the animal and not want to give them up, we say that’s actually okay too, many of our foster carers end up adopting because it can be a great way to test the waters with a new family member before making a 15-year commitment.”
To find out more about fostering for FFAR, visit: foreverfriends.org.au/foster/.
