Animal Aid Community Service Announcement

Abandoned – hungry and alone

Imagine what it would be like to be cruelly abandoned by your owner, deserted, with a family of small vulnerable puppies utterly dependant on you for their survival, with no access to food or water.

This is what happened to Shandy and her nine puppies. Left to die in a derelict house they stood little chance until found and brought to our Bairnsdale shelter. Shandy was malnourished, frightened and very anxious for her puppies, who were only one week old. Two of them had already died from malnutrition and despite our best efforts, tragically another two of the puppies could not be saved.

“When Shandy and the pups came in we were very worried, and we knew they would need a lot of specialised care, rehabilitation and medical assistance”, Luis Marquez, manager of our Bairnsdale facility, said. “You could see even then that Shandy had a beautiful temperament, she was such a good Mum. We could see she would make someone a wonderful companion.”

After being fostered with a volunteer carer, Shandy and her five surviving puppies, named Crystal, Honey, Coco, Opal and Sugar, bounced back into good health. They have all now been adopted into loving homes, and their new owners couldn’t be happier with their results.

The simple truth is without our help and TLC, these precious lives would not have survived.

They are innocent and helpless, they have no voice but together we will give them a future.

There is a growing crisis of animal abandonment and neglect in Victoria, with an increasing number of animals like Shandy being brought to our door every day. Often these animals have special needs that make their prospects at other shelters fairly limited.

Animal Aid is at the frontline, taking in and caring for these animals – without us, they would have few other options and face a bleak future. The tragic fact is that more than 30% of shelter dogs and 80% of shelter cats across Victoria are euthanased.

However, in this growing crisis there is hope.

Animal Aid is fighting back, and giving all these animals the love and care they deserve. The scope of our services and impact across Victoria has grown significantly in the last few years to more effectively tackle this crisis. Being an Open Door shelter makes Animal Aid different to others, we never turn away an animal in need and we do our utmost to meet each individual animal’s needs. That’s why we exist.

Your support will help us save the lives of countless more animals.

With recent floods affecting our Coldstream facility, as well as the cost of taking on more animals who deserve to live, our resources are stretched to the limit. Your help is so vital. With it we can keep saving the lives of animals that will become someone’s best friend, companion and family member one day. Without it, we will be unable to continue to provide these essential services, unable to help all animals that need a chance.

Thank you once again for your past support. We urge you to consider giving to Animal Aid now to help us save more lives like Shandy and her puppies. With your help, together we can turn the tide in the fight against animal neglect and abandonment and help create a society in which both humans and animals are treated with respect and compassion.

Please consider your gift to Animal Aid now.

Yours sincerely

Nell Thompson
General Manager

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