17/07/2022
The time has come where we are strong enough in ourselves to write this post. In the immortal words of M.A.S.H. “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” or if you’d prefer the animated classics from Porky Pig “That’s all folks” ❤️ If you can hang on for the ride this is a long post but we feel we need to say a fair bit in our one last post so stay with us if you can.
Firstly, we don’t believe that most people understand how wildlife care happens in this state or this country for that matter - here’s the potted version:
- you think as an individual who cares about your fellow earthly inhabitants that you may be able to help so you get involved with wildlife rescue so you VOLUNTEER,
- as part of that involvement you drop animals to licensed shelters who are VOLUNTEERS and realise the struggles that they are under in terms of sheer numbers of animals requiring care,
- you sit back and think to yourself after a few years maybe we could do more now we have some knowledge so you establish yourself as a VOLUNTEER foster carer under a licensed VOLUNTEER shelter operator,
- after a few years learning the ropes you then set up as a VOLUNTEER licensed shelter and off you go.
You soon realise when you live and operate your shelter in the fastest growing urban growth boundary that the call on your services far outweighs the hours in a day because afterall you still have your day job - yep the job that pays a salary so you can pay your mortgage and bills and partially fund the wildlife shelter.
We know the cost of running the shelter is somewhere between $20K and $26K per annum in food, aviary upkeep, equipment replacement and upgrade. Last year one fundraiser callout raised $7500 or therabouts and we are so thankful and grateful for that support. The next fundraiser raised a little over $300. Now if you do the math, that is a shortfall of around the $12K mark.
Folks say put in for grants - yep we could if we had a spare moment - remember we both work fulltime as well as in effect have another full time job which runs 7 days a week in terms of wildlife caring. Grants are incredibly time consuming to prepare, administer and acquit.
If there are any pollies out there getting this post here’s a suggestion for you:
- WV has a recording system and is the largest and more recently state govt funded call centre for wildlife rescue, bring it in under DELWP just like Sustainability Vic sits under DELWP. All rescues go through WV - come on, their web address is almost misleading enough to fool the public in believing they’re govt anyway! That way you have one recording system (case file) which rescuers and shelters can feed into instead of having to create their own records - hint, massive time saver for shelters.
- collect $2 a quarter or whatever other nominated amount, via the rates system (afterall most of the animals in care are because of negative interactions with or caused by humans) and have that run through LGV which - hey presto, is a Vic govt dept
- each year shelter’s submit consumables budgets - if they run over they can request additional budget the following year, if they run under they lose the surplus anount in the following year - very typical of govt budgeting.
- a capex budget request could also be submitted in a grant like approach each year.
- that way the state govt conservation regulator would actually have the data of true cost of wildlife care and the true resourcing requirements that need to be on the table to ensure wildlife care in this state is properly managed.
We have been pleased to see increased education options for carers but it still should be a formal approach phased in for species specific care in our opinion and if we hadn’t been using WORZ as our wildlife vet clinic since we pretty much started out, we hate to think of the incorrect decisions we would have made on numerous animals - they have taught us so much and have been amazing in their support to us since we first reached out to them. They are truly fabulous and we have been so incredibly lucky to have access to their expertise - thank you so much to all the team past and present there - we love you all ❤️
We want to thank all the local suburban vet clinics as well - we all understand that you do what you can with the knowledge and capacity you have. You have all been very supportive of us over the years and we’ve greatly appreciated that ❤️
COVID-19 - think it’s true to say that we’re all very much over this pandemic thing. For us we had never been busier - during lockdowns and in between - more people working from home and walking around their own neighbourhoods meant people were finding animals that ordinarily would have most likely perished for the lack of being noticed previously. We were swamped for two years - no let up at all, we literally had hundreds of animals through the door - it was not unusual for the morning run to WORZ being 6 crates down and maybe one animal (if we were lucky) coming back for care. After a while being the death uber for these cute critters takes its toll. Both Marcus and I were working right through the pandemic so we had our jobs and the wildlife.
We also had someone else who was in need during the pandemic. For those who know us quite well, they know Marcus’ family are all on the other side of the planet so we worried from afar like many of you in the same position. For Elaine, who lost her Mum four years ago, her blind Dad in aged care was high on the agenda in terms of keeping him safe. Thankfully, he managed to make it through all the lockdowns but we sadly lost him in April this year - he was 92. Elaine made a promise to him as she held his hand in the final days - that promise was to walk away from the wildlife care. He flet we had done our tour of duty. Elaine’s parents had always been supportive but also concerned about the depth of involvement in the wildlife care and the impact it had not just on her but also Marcus. We are both empaths by nature so every wildlife loss is remembered and felt deeply - we can tell you the names of them all 💔 We’ve had to step away from the rescue and care just to give ourselves time to grieve - Elaine for her Dad and Marcus for the best mate he had for near on 30 years - RIP D 💔❤️
So when we reflected on our decision we realised that we had four significant deaths for us in the last few months of caring and we’ve not been able to post about them for until now. It simply hurt too much - even now typing through tears.
They were all cygnets 💔💔💔💔
The first was Lucky - the little cygnet that was attacked by the swamp hen last year. We got Lucky through the attack but as Lucky developed we could see something was very wrong. Lucky had sustained an injury to his joint in the attack and it was only obvious as the growth plates grew. Lucky was 4 months old when we had to take that one last drive to WORZ with Lucky - we knew Lucky would not be coming back 💔 RIP Lucky 🦢
The second little cygnet was one that was found wandering on his own around Hemsley Promenade. It was clear Hemsley had been attacked from feather loss and feet scrapings but Hemsley did well - until we noticed one leg bowing more than the other. With heavy hearts knowing (through previous learnings on other birds) that we had to call it - Hemsley was 5 months old. These types of growth plate injuries don’t make themsleves obvious until a certain growth stage so you think everything is going well but then you notice that it’s not - we can’t tell you what it is like to have to make these decisions apart from the fact that it makes you physically and emotionally ill 💔 RIP Hemsley 🦢
So all of you will remember Crackles - the little cygnet who was pneumonic on arrival and was a should we/shouldn’t we back when Crackles first came in. Blimey this little chap was a fighter. As you’ll remember we ended up with Pop coming in and we strongly suspected they were siblings. It became obvious that Pop was excelling and growing but soon Crackles was almost half Pop’s size and something didn’t sit right. We thought that if he had growth issues we should probably get onto that sooner than later. We took him down for a check up and he was given the all clear - his lungs were perfect - but hours afterwards he started knuckling his foot, unable to place it properly underneath him. We tried bracing the foot and we thought we had won - he was placing it well but within 10 days we knew it was game over. So once again it was popping Crackles into a crate for the last time and making that one way trip. We cannot tell you how our hearts and guts are feeling every time we look into the eyes of an animal that we’ve looked after, fought for, cried and laughed over and then we have to call it. We feel that same way when we make a decision on one of our furkids - remember, we are empaths and feel every single heartbeat as it fades. 💔 RIP Crackles 🦢
The straw that broke the final heartstring was a little cygnet only a few days old. We had referred this little dude whilst we were grieving Dad, to another rescue group. Unfortunately, even though we’d referred the case as needing rescue, our experience and expertise counted for nothing and the other rescue group decided to keep a watching brief. The member of public who originally called it in to us got back in touch very concerned and apologised profusely for interrupting our time but felt there was a need. Elaine left her home desk and went down to find a little cygnet hiding his disability but that needed seeing. Straight fown to WORZ - the cygnet had a badly dislocated foot from which he would never recover. He was euthanased under anaesthetic. 💔 RIP Little One 🦢
The thing that hurt us about that last little cygnet was that although we had years of experience now under our belt, that little one had to suffer for three days because our experience in diagnostics was not trusted by an organisation we thought had more respect for our judgement. We were saddened and angry for the sake of that little one.
We have left you with our last ever release. We had until 26 June 2022 to renew our shelter license - we watched that date slip by with relief but sadness that the state of wildlife care in this state really needs to be dealt with by some bold strategic moves that no pollie is willing to take. Every day that goes by means animals will suffer for that inaction.
We are leaving you to share a very special moment with us - our last ever release. And no - not a swan as it turns out. This young galah came in unable to fly but with some cage rest and some time this youngster was ready to go. So we took a drive out to the back of the You Yangs where we came across a flock of around 100 or so galahs. Check our this dude when he suddenly hears his own and makes a beeline for his own. Enjoy ❤️
Thank you all for the support you have provided over the years - we are truly appreciative of the community and your support - thank you for being absolutely fabulous. For us the next chapter awaits - maybe some more volunteering down the track but at a pace that allows us to breathe.
We will use all current donations to close down PCWC Inc and any monies remaining will be donated to our friends Jacqui and Lee at Western Animal Rescue.
For all wildlife rescues call Wildlife Victoria 84007300 and if you can safely contain the animal and drive - then Werribee Open Range Zoo vet clinic is always the preferred option. We believe their brand new revamped wildlife clinic is about to be completed so timing is impeccable. In the meantime if you take the animal to the ticket office they can get the animal to the vet clinic.
All assets in the form of rescue equipment and aviaries will be offered to not-for-profits that will cater to the increasing need for care in the western suburbs urban growth boundary.
Thank you 🙏🏼💔❤️🦢
