Overcoming barriers to help pets find love 💚

When people come together to help pets find loving homes, it’s worth celebrating!

This is especially the case when those pets live in communities facing extra challenges to creating great outcomes, as is the case for Upper Hunter Shire Council, located in Scone in regional New South Wales.

We chatted with Bobbie-Shae Clarke, Senior Compliance Officer at Upper Hunter Shire Council, who recently joined the PetRescue member community, to find out how they’ve been overcoming some big challenges due to their location and limited access to services. 

The Council are in good company, with over fifty other councils around the country also rehoming pets using PetRescue, often finding homes for pets in their care hours (and sometimes states) away from their local council area! They join hundreds of rescue organisations, shelters and vet clinics across Australia connecting homeless pets with their new humans using PetRescue’s free adoption platform. 

The council adopts pets directly into homes and works hard to share their adoptable pets on their website and Facebook page.

Being located regionally three and a half hours away from Sydney, Bobbie-Shae tells us that one of the council’s biggest challenges was the limitations they faced with how many potential adopters would see and connect with the pets in their care, using their established pathways.  

“Being a small rural facility, we only have so much of a reach, so we were trying to find ways to get a broader reach for a wider viewing, so people from further away can see the animals that we've got. So we've been putting campaigns out there to the community, letting them know that even though they might not be able to adopt an animal, if they share our post, it'll reach more people. 

That's where PetRescue comes in handy for us because it allows us to get a broader reach again. So the animals that we have rehomed through PetRescue have gone to Foster, which is five hours away, and Sydney, which is three and a half hours away. If people have the opportunity to see an animal that they have that connection with, they're more likely to travel the distance to come and meet them. If they have access to be able to actually see what we've got, then it opens that window of opportunity for us.

I definitely recommend to other councils to become PetRescue members because it gives you that extra reach to be able to access people that you may not have had access to before. It also gets more eyes on the animals that are in your shelter and more opportunities for them to find homes.” 

The visibility of pets to potential adopters around the country wasn't the only challenge that Upper Hunter overcame joining the PetRescue community. 

When PetRescue’s Community Care Coordinator Bella first spoke with Bobbie-Shae about the council coming on board as a PetRescue member to rehome pets, in addition to rehoming directly and through rescue groups, the pair identified a potential roadblock: desexing requirements. To prevent unplanned litters and future pressure on the system, PetRescue requires all pets listed to be desexed prior to adoption. This can be a potential barrier for councils, due to the number of undesexed pets that come into care, along with the high costs to desex a cat or dog.

However, through collaboration between PetRescue and Upper Hunter Shire, the council was able to overcome this barrier and start listing pets on the platform. Once potential adopters showed interest in a pet, the council was able to arrange for their desexing surgery prior to adoption, along with their vaccinations and registration, meaning the pets were all set to start their new lives! 

In incredible news, the council has already found homes for a dog (Lexi) and cat (Bart) directly through PetRescue. These are two special pets, whose new humans are located hours away from Upper Hunter Shire’s shelter, and who would’ve never crossed paths with them if they hadn’t been listed on PetRescue.

“Lexi was a lovely big dog who just had the most beautiful nature. The people who adopted her are from Foster, they came and met her and fell in love, and they send us updates of her down at the beach and her laying on her back, taking over the whole lounge chair. She's just living her best life - she’s having the best time in the world!” 

“Bart came in and had never been handled, him and his sister came in together from a property. The guy who came and adopted Bart had wanted to come and have a look - he saw Bart on PetRescue, and contacted us and said, “Oh, can I come and have a look at what other pets you've got? I want to see what's available. But he ended up taking Bart home!” 

"Scruff [left] finally found his new home after a long 6 month wait. He was adopted thanks to PetRescue to Mount White, this is Scruff and his new best friend Chook."

Humphry was adopted recently through PetRescue with his new owners traveling all the way from Melbourne to collect him.

Council facilities can be a wonderful option for folks to find their new furry family member at, as they often have more flexible adoption policies and welcome adopters even if there are practical barriers to overcome, like distance or their opening hours.

Upper Hunter Shire have worked hard to be as accessible as possible for adopters, and we can’t wait to hear more happy tails of adoption from this progressive council! 

Meet Upper Hunter Shire Council’s adoptable pets here.

Read about PetRescue’s Safe and Sound Pets work here.

Are you from a council, and are looking for new ways for the pets in your care to be seen? PetRescue membership is completely free, and allows the adoptable pets in your care to be seen by thousands of potential adopters around Australia each day. To chat with us about joining (and overcoming any barriers like Upper Hunter did!) please email us here.

Banner image: Scruff, adopted via Upper Hunter Shire Council.