Shoalhaven Animal Shelter workers will be joining the annual Dogs Day Out NSW event at Nowra Showground on Saturday 30 August to help connect the right people with the right pets, and support pet owners with information.
Council took over the shelter from the RSPCA at Nowra Hill in 2018 and since then, has reunited more than 2,200 lost pets with their families and found new homes for almost 5,000 animals.
To help raise awareness of the shelter's role, shelter staff will attend the annual Dogs Day Out NSW event at Nowra Showground.
"Most people know that the shelter has dogs and cats available for adoption but we do much more than that," Shoalhaven Animal Shelter Team Supervisor Sharon Johnson said.
"The shelter operates as an impounding facility and we provide the best care possible for lost and surrendered animals, reunite pets with their owners and offer microchipping services," Ms Johnson said.
The shelter's mission is to ensure all animals are placed in caring and supportive environments, while promoting responsible pet ownership through education.
Ms Johnson said there were several key things the community should know about the shelter and responsible pet ownership, including:
- Under NSW law, cats and dogs must be both microchipped and registered. These are separate requirements.
- The shelter cannot always accept surrendered animals immediately due to limited capacity and high demand. Surrenders are only accepted from Shoalhaven residents.
- A surrender fee of $131 for dogs and $104.50 for cats helps cover the cost of vet treatment, microchipping and care while animals are at the shelter.
- People wanting to adopt a cat or dog must submit an application so shelter can assess the suitability for both the applicant and the animal.
"We care for dogs and cats until we can find them a loving, suitable home. Anyone thinking about adoption should carefully consider if they can meet the animal's long-term needs and provide a safe, supportive environment," Ms Johnson said.
Two dogs available for adoption will accompany the animal shelter team at the Dogs Day Out event at Nowra Showground from 10am to 3pm, Saturday 30 August.
Each animal's PetRescue profile is available on the animal shelter's Facebook page which is updated every Wednesday and the PetRescue website Shoalhaven Animal Shelter – PetRescue.
