DOGS and cats can make great Christmas presents however it is after the novelty of a new pet has warn off that Gwydir Park Animal Refuge is inundated with animals that have been dumped.

Just this week Geoff and Pat Johnson from Gwydir Park took into their care two dogs that were found dumped near Warialda.

The dogs, like many that are dumped, had been mistreated and will be rehabilitated at Gwydir Park before being re-homed.

“We have notified Gwydir Shire Council but no one has come forward to claim them,” Geoff said.

In 2010 Gwydir Park re-homed a record 508 animals, up 61 from 2009.

While they are satisfied with their re-homing rate, Geoff and Pat admit they are fighting an uphill battle.

“The refugees are part funded by the kennels we have and some people give donations but when you have so many being surrendered and dumped it is too hard to keep up,” Geoff said.

At this time of year Gwydir Park becomes a temporary home for unwanted Christmas presents that have been dumped. Pet dumping also becomes a problem over the holiday period when people go away, leaving their animals behind without care.

The end of 2010 saw an influx of kittens to the animal refuge.

“It got to the point where we had 57 kittens, mostly three or four weeks old,” Pat said.

“There were litters being born everywhere and some being dumped in wheelie bins. We managed to save them and all 57 were re-homed,” she said.

Animals at Gwydir Park are not put down; they stay as refugees until they can be given to a good home. Geoff and Pat expect the two dogs found near Warialda will be easy to re-homed.

“We have named them Red and Spider and once we spend a bit of time with them they will have no trouble finding a nice home,” Geoff said.

© 2011 Inverell Times

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