Now, picturing a wave of thousands of adorable dogs sounds like our idea of heaven. But where there are puppies, there is also a need for loving homes – and here lies the problem. For a multitude of reasons – including pets being surrendered due to the cost of living crisis and strict rental rules – there are growing numbers of dogs of all ages around Australia that don’t have homes right now. The number is predicted to reach 10,000 by the year’s end, and Sydney is no exception. Maggie’s Rescue, a registered charity based in Sydney’s Inner West, is feeling the pressure, and their volunteers are calling out for help to find homes for some precious pooches.
Some very sweet puppies recently visited us at the Time Out Sydney office (and you bet that we took a bajillion pictures of that serotonin-inducing experience) along with Laura Chao, the operations coordinator from Maggie’s Rescue, who spoke to us about how we can help.
“The pound system is overflowing, and rescues are expected to pick up the slack, but we can only take as many dogs and cats into care as we have foster carers. There's definitely a big problem in the dog space at the moment, whether people can no longer care for them, or they've been abandoned, or they’re stray and don't have [identification] microchips so they can't get in contact with the owners, or the chips are out of date,” Laura explained.
“It’s a very challenging space at the moment, and adoptions are really slow. Dogs are sitting in foster care up to a year, sometimes longer. Our puppies, they generally find homes, but we've still got puppies sitting around that have been ready for homes for some months and are still waiting for their forever people.”
Crumpet the pup’s story
One puppy who recently found his forever home is Crumpet (pictured below). You can often find this affectionate pup snoozing under a table at Miss Sina in Marrickville, the vegan bakery-café run by his proud new human, pastry-whiz Sina Klug.
“It's incredibly rewarding. We were fostering for five years before we actually felt ready for a dog, and we accidentally fell for this one,” says Sina, gazing over at the drowsy Crumpet.
“You can commit to fostering at times where you know that you're not going to be super busy at work, or maybe a little bit more flexible,” Sina continues. “You get to meet lots of different dogs and find out what type of dog suits your home or your family. You get out in the community as well – at the park you're always the biggest star, because everyone wants to know who you're fostering at the moment. For us, it was so good for our mental health, especially during lockdown.”
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If you’re thinking about fostering a pet, you’re looking at a minimum one-to-two-month commitment, and Maggie’s Rescue supports all volunteers with the animal’s associated vet bills and medical bills. The biggest need at the moment, however, is forever homes.
“Last year we rehomed 70 dogs, and this year our goal is 150. We're well on our way to exceeding that number, because of how many dogs are in need,” says Laura. “On the cat side, last year we rehomed about 300 cats, and our goal this year is 450. So those numbers, for a little tiny rescue with no funding, are pretty good. But we always want to do more, there are still more animals that need us – we get requests daily, lots from people who have found cats, and requests to surrender dogs every single day.”
Laura explained to us that Maggie’s Rescue does not receive any government funding, saying: “We basically function through donations from individuals that go towards our vet bills, which can easily be in excess of $20,000 a month. Our foster carers help us enormously by providing loving homes, but we pay for all the vet bills and medications, and when we can, we give food.”
Get your pet desexed, become part of the solution
Unexpected litters are another big contributor to the numbers of dogs and cats up for adoption. Laura’s advice is to get your pet desexed as early as possible to avoid a difficult situation.
“Having an unexpected litter happens more often than people think. They think ‘I'll be able to control it! I’ll keep my dog inside, I'll keep my dog separate!’ But that just isn’t how it happens. When dogs are coming into heat, their hormones are really strong, so they will find a way to get out, and they will probably get pregnant,” says Laura. “There are too many outcomes where we're just creating more dogs, and there are no homes for them. So at worst case, those dogs end up in the pound system, and if they don't get adopted, they get euthanised, and that's crappy.”
“With cats as well, people think when they’re cute kittens that they're not reproductive yet, but they can have kittens as early as four to six months of age – and it's not good for them, because they're so tiny, but it definitely is something that's completely preventable.”
Councils also have rules around desexing pets. In the City of Sydney, you are required to have cats desexed by four months old and dogs desexed by six months. Maggie’s Rescue runs a Community Outreach Desexing Program that offers free and subsidised spaying, neutering and microchipping for dogs for families who are struggling with the costs of those services. (The funding for this comes directly from Savour Life. With more donations, Maggie’s Rescue also hopes to offer desexing for cats.)
There’s a reason that they say dogs are (hu)mans’ best friend. As comedian smug rescue dog owner Nikki Britton said in an article for Time Out earlier this year, life in Sydney is better with a dog. So, is it time for you to get more canine company in your world? Find out more about Maggie’s Rescue, register for adoptions and fostering, or make a donation at maggiesrescue.org.