
Last updated: 21 Mar, 2023
Published on: 20 Jul, 2020
Olympic swimmer Giaan Rooney finds her new pup on PetRescue!

“You can safely say that ‘rescued’ is my favourite breed!” - Giaan Rooney
The first half of 2020 saw an unexpected demand for rescue pets on PetRescue, with over 20,000 finding loving homes via PetRescue in March, April and May! And one of these awesome adopters was none other than Olympic swimmer Giaan Rooney, who adopted a precious pup named Roy from Waggy Tails Rescue QLD!
A rescue champion, and an ambassador for PetRescue member Lort Smith Animal Hospital, Giaan has always held pet adoption close to her heart, having previously adopted five rescue cats and a rescue dog before Roy came along.
Earlier in May, Giaan and her family welcomed sweet little Roy into their family after finding him on PetRescue. “PetRescue is the most fabulous resource, and I think even more valuable over the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The wonderful silver lining to isolation is that more animals have been rescued and fostered than ever before, so I had to go further than usual to find Roy. I wouldn’t have found Waggy Tails Dog Rescue or our little mate if I didn’t have an alert set up on PetRescue!” said Giaan.
Image: Giaan Rooney's new puppy, Roy, who she adopted from Waggy Tails Rescue QLD via PetRescue!
In order to introduce early socialisation opportunities for her new puppy, Giaan took Roy to puppy school and organised playdates with one of his littermates, who just happened to live nearby!
“We have been so lucky in a number of ways over this strange period... Roy has a full brother (there were 5 pups in his litter) around the corner, so they have been able to play, wrestle and learn together from the get-go,” said Giaan.
Image: Giaan holding Roy and his brother from the same litter who happens to live nearby!
In fact, Giaan feels that this has been the perfect time to bring a new puppy home, “Considering my work life has slowed down considerably (I work in the travel and events industries) and might not ever return to the level it was, it has been the perfect time to introduce a puppy to our life.”
Giaan and her family are absolutely ecstatic about having Roy in their lives, and are completely head over heels in love with him!
“Roy has absolutely turned our life upside down, in the best possible way! It had felt like a piece of our family puzzle was missing since we lost our rescued, 3-legged furry child, Lester 2 years ago, so finding Roy now means that puzzle is complete.”
And she goes on to say that having a new puppy around has been great for her two kids, “The kids are besotted with Roy, and I already love that having him has turned their attention away from screens in their downtime, but they are also easily excited by him and tend to forget that he is only little, so we can’t wrestle with him just yet!!!”