Dog Rescue Newcastle has announced it has finally secured property for the region’s first independent no-kill animal shelter.
The two-acre property, secured on August 1, is in Fullerton Cove, a 25-minute drive north of Newcastle.
Newcastle Animal Shelter will include multiple exercise and training yards, long-term accommodation for special cases and an adoption office, as well as a community pet pantry, an event space, memorial garden and retail store.
“This property will allow us to have up to 40 dogs on-site and provide ongoing training and rehabilitation until the dogs are moved into foster care or adopted,” the organisation said.
The shelter will give death-row dogs in pounds and at-risk situations in the Hunter a second chance to find a forever home.
“Our goal is to not only make Newcastle and the Hunter ‘no kill’, but to also work with the community and educate and reduce overall animal surrenders and abandonment,” the organisation said.
Dog Rescue Newcastle will take over the property by February 2022 at the latest, and spokesperson Jesse Reinhard expects it to be “fully operational” by mid 2022.
“The property was too good to pass up on. It’s 25 minutes from Newcastle and already had DA approval for a kennel licence,” Reinhard said.
While the property was previously a boarding kennel, DRN plans to rebuild the infrastructure from scratch, and has urged the local community to “get involved”.
Reinhard said stage one and two of the new site plan would entail kennel and yard construction for dogs. A cattery and other additions will be considered at a later date.
“Since the launch of the initial fundraising campaign, we were able to raise over $70,000 to go towards the deposit, thanks to the amazing support of our animal-loving community,” DRN said.
The funding included donations from Waratah Coal Services, as well as from a Swansea family.
“Kylie Bates and her family donated $13,000 toward the shelter through public fundraising in the memory of their daughter Lucinda, who lost her battle with mental health a few months ago.”
The Bates family adopted a dog from DRN eight years ago, and Lucinda and the pet became “best mates”.
The funds will help pay for a play yard, which will be used as an adoption meet-and-greet space.
“The money from Lucinda’s memory will help introduce people to their new dogs over the next 10 to 20 years,” Reinhard said.
“The Bates family have been amazing, and Dog Rescue Newcastle can’t thank them enough.”
Reinhard said the organisation was grateful to the community for helping them raise funds “in the middle of a pandemic”, adding that continued support would allow them to achieve their ultimate vision for the shelter.
“We are still fundraising to cover the costs of the total renovations, as we are a 100 per cent volunteer-run organisation,” he said.
“We still need to raise another $300,000 to build kennels.”
In the first six months of operation, DRN will also “rely on volunteers putting their hand up and getting involved”.
Reinhard said the plan was to employ a dedicated shelter manager and a small team “purely focused on animal care”, however, this would be dependent on funding.
Dog Rescue Newcastle has proposed “a number of community and outreach programs focusing on key areas in the community to improve pet ownership and help keep people and pets together”.
Reinhard said, “the programs were [informed] by the community needs we saw every day; people who can’t pay vet bills, people experiencing homelessness, and victims of domestic violence”.
“Since the start of the pandemic, we get heaps of calls and are taking in dogs where women are fleeing domestic violence situations and they can’t leave because of their beloved pet. We’ll now be able to provide emergency pet boarding for them.”
Reinhard described the shelter as a “gamechanger”, saying it would provide the organisation with the “ability to help save more dogs”.
He appealed to the community to continue helping DRN in any way they could.
“If you can’t adopt, foster, if you can’t foster, volunteer, if you can’t volunteer, donate and if you can’t donate, advocate,” Reinhard said.
Visit the DRN website for more information, and to donate.
Applications for shelter volunteers will open in the coming months.
Maia O’Connor
This is wonderful news and what a generous family the Bates are.I would love to become involved as a volunteer when you open as soon as you need any help at all.Great work!!!!