A Mandurah dog rescue group is calling on the local business community to throw them a bone as they face increasing demand but fewer donations, a situation the group says may leave them with no option but to close.
Nambeelup-based K9 Rescue Group has seen regular donations drop by 51.3 per cent since December, according to treasurer Graham Carter.
Mr Carter said the kennels were also at capacity with 40 dogs in their care, while they continued to receive daily requests by people wanting to surrender their pet.
“(We are getting) probably between 60 to 70 surrender requests a week, averaging eight to 10 per day,” he said.
“We only have capacity for 40 dogs. And basically, as soon as one dog gets out (adopted), there’s at least 15 in the queue at any given time.”
Mr Carter said K9 was facing a monthly gap in their expenses of $10,000 with vet expenses their biggest costs.
Despite receiving a generous 45 per cent discount from the vets at Halls Head Small Animal Clinic, the bills were adding up with less donations coming through.
“Before we go through that rehoming process, we still have to make sure the dog is vet checked and has a clean bill of health, and that’s where the bulk of our costs go,” he said.
“Dogs come into K9 and we then spend a lot of time and money going through the rehabilitation of that dog, making sure that they’ve had any treatments they need done.”
The treasurer said if K9 could no longer pay their bills, they would have to call in an administrator from their ruling body, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.
“At the moment, we’re the only rescue that covers Cockburn, Rockingham, Mandurah, Shire of Murray, even as far as up to Armadale,” he said.
“If we close down, that puts additional pressure on the Shenton Park dog home, which is also at capacity.
“There is a very strong possibility that K9 Dog Rescue would close and where it ends up, we don’t know.
“It could end up being turned into a dog boarding kennel rather than a dog rescue, it could be taken over by the RSPCA, but that is all unknown. We don’t know.”
K9 volunteer Montana Smith said the full and busy kennels were creating a difficult environment for some of the dogs in their care.
“It’s hard with all the kennels and the dogs going off all the time, and there’s no time for them to actually decompress after a vet visit,” she said. “The more (dogs) that come in and the longer they stay in here, the worse it gets.
“Every dog’s just absolutely getting more and more grumpy that they’re in here so they tell the world about it (by barking) and then that sets all the other dogs off, and there’s no real decompression.”
When the Mandurah Times visited K9’s headquarters last week, the full kennels meant one dog was being housed in the volunteer’s staff room to ensure it could be provided with a quiet place.
Ms Smith said volunteers taking each of the dogs out for one-on-one “decompression time” during walks or outdoor excursions was an important measure.
Mr Carter said K9 had organised to meet with the City of Mandurah, Shire of Murray and Murray-Wellington MP Robyn Clarke to discuss how they could support the rescue.
K9 receives an annual grant of $25,000 from the State Government.
Mr Carter said donations from the public, which have come in after K9 made a public appeal on social media last week, were important but stressed that organising ongoing sponsorships from businesses would be key to ensure they can stay afloat, with their annual running costs totalling more than $350,000.
“The general community has always been good but they are doing it tough,” he said.
“I think we do have to focus on the business community. We only need three or four businesses to step up and maybe make a donation of $5000 a year for the next two years and that makes a significant difference.”
Donations to K9 can be made through their fundraiser at bit.ly/3wM6HiA with details to donate direct to their bank account available on their Facebook page.