By Tanya Steele
Animal Aid in Coldstream has managed a huge feat over the Easter long weekend and found new families for a huge number of kittens, young cats and even a few guinea pigs who needed homes.
Communications and Engagement Manager, Elle Ammann said it was an amazing result.
“Final adoption numbers for the drive came to 106 animals,” she said.
57 kittens, 47 cats and two, guinea pigs found new homes, which meant the facility could make way for more animals.
“We were struggling because, without the free space at the shelter, it meant our foster carers were at capacity,” Ms Ammann said.
The shelter was at breaking point, with more cats coming in than the facility was able to adopt out.
Appeals were made to local clients and the community via email and social media.
Previous clients who had adopted with the facility before and residents in the region were encouraged to adopt a furry friend over a period of ten days, with usual fees waived.
This positive outcome means the facility will also be able to further assist its regional centres.
March and April tend to be tougher for the adoption facilities with the peak of kitten season but this year was particularly troublesome.
“We think financial pressures coupled with the fact that there was such a big adoption uptake over the last few years meant that anyone who was looking to adopt has done so already,” Ms Ammann said.
“Definitely the whole of Victoria is really struggling to rehome animals.”
Heading forward, the shelter intends to keep up the good work.
“We’re going to be working really hard to make sure that our community chooses us to adopt every day, we have so many beautiful animals looking for a home,” Ms Ammann said.
