All Creatures Great & Small - Part 1, Adoption Centre
- karan76
- Jul 20, 2015
- 3 min read
Entry to the RSPCA Adoption Centre, Wacol.
Following from the Million Paws Walk in May, we received an invitation for a behind-the-scenes tour of the RSPCA Queensland Headquaters at Wacol.
The site itself is quite incredible. It is a former prison facility that has been fully refurbished to include an Adoption Centre, Wildlife Hospital, World For Pets retail outlet, 24-hour call centre, the RSPCA Inspectorate, the RSPCA Education team, the Pet-Detect team who search the state for lost pets, the 24/7 Wildlife Hospital and our 24/7 Animal Hospital. There is also and on-site cafe serving humane food to visitors to the Centre as well as an Op Shop.
Memorial and Appreciation Walkway Pavers at the Adoption Centre
When entering the Adoption Centre it is difficult not to stop and read the many memorial and appreciation pavers lining the route. These beautiful pavers are memory to loved furry and feathered friends as well as those who have worked tirelessly to support the RSPCA.
Main Reception Area of Adoption Centre
The Adoption Centre is unlike we have ever seen before (and we've, sadly, seen plenty). The RSPCA acknowledge that many people do not want to attend Adoption Centres as they generally feel so very sad. This is true. We think everyone can picture images of long, concrete shelters with sad eyes staring at you from behind wire barriers. (Note: any shelter is that provides food, comfort and care is better than the alternative.)
So, the thinking behind the Adoption Centre is that is is friendly, welcoming and the animals are in enviroments that promote interaction. We think they have nailed this objective - we did not what to leave!
One small section of the Cat Adoption area
How cool is the cat adoption area (one you get past the reflections in the photo)?! Gosh, we were amazed at how homely this felt. Chairs to do your nails on then snuggle up in. Towers and bookcases to climb. Toys and goodies for play time. Life is pretty good, all things considered.
When the cats aren't enjoying these facilities, they have a nice, cosy, zone all to themselves. Sure, we got a little teary when we saw them but gosh, the comforts made available to these little ones made us feel a whole lot better.
Doggy adoption pen
Once an animal has been surrendered to the RSPCA, it is first assessed by the team (more on that + photos in our next blog) it is then moved to the Adoption Centre. As we saw earlier, the kitties are mostly living large with their scratchy chairs, towers and toys.
The dogs all have their pens with crate, bed and toys. During our visit we saw about 12 volunteers rotating through each of the pens to give individual cuddle time to the dogs. It was very late in the day and the animals had enjoyed the exercise yard and other play time, so these cuddles were their good-night cuddles. We were surprised as to the number of volunteers actively participating in this.
One of the things we noticed most about the adoption centre was the lack of barking and crying. We have two adopted animals at home and one of our lasting memories from the shelters they came from was the general noise. The noise of sad, confused and scared animals.
We felt that that the environment in the Adoption Centre was calm, welcoming and above all, comforting for the poor animals that, through no fault of their own, found themselves there.
Woah - that's some confronting information!
When you think about the RSPCA receiving 600 calls for help, investigating 35 cases of animal cruelty complaints, finding furever homes for 32 animals, caring for 30 wildlife patients, providing vetinerary treatment for 100 animals and visiting 800 children to teach them about animal welfare every day - that's a whole lot of essential services the RSPCA are providing to our community.
Did you know that the RSPCA rely on donations and community support to fund 99% of their annual costs?
The RSPCA need $38 million annually to support our animal centres, programs and services. As a non-government, community based charity, RSPCA Qld receives less than 1% of government funding and relies on donations, bequests and sponsorships.
There's lots of ways you can help the RSPCA - from volunteering, to donating a single or monthly gift, donation of goods and even baking. Yup, baking. If you can support the RSPCA with your awesome baking skills or some other way, please visit them here to find out more.
RSPCA: Helping Animals, Enlightening People, Changing Lives.
In our next post we will share some amazing behind-the-scenes photos from the Wildlife Hospital (we even saw an operation!), the general facilities and some scaly, prickly and feathered friends.
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