As the rental accommodation shortage in the Far South Coast continues to bite, the number of pets being surrendered to animal welfare organisations is increasing.
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In the five days July 4-8, Animal Welfare League (AWL) NSW, Eurobodalla branch took in six dogs. "The main problem is people having to give up their pets due to the shortage of rental accommodation," said Clare Hooper, Eurobodalla branch president. "It has been going on for the last year and it is certainly getting worse."
Eurobodalla RSPCA president Louise Webb said it is a very common situation.
"We certainly see a lot of that," she said. "It seems to have become worse, anecdotally, over the last 12 months or so."
Ms Hooper attributed the problem to the "amount of people who own these houses and don't rent them out locally".
The 2021 Census found that 27.2 per cent of the shire's 22,827 homes were unoccupied on census night. That compares with the national average of 9.6 per cent unoccupied homes.
Kerri Brady, president of AWL NSW Far South Coast Branch, noted another contributing factor is people moving into aged care facilities because they can no longer live independently in their own home. Often they have to give up their pet as well.
Fortunately there are still households willing to adopt the surrendered pets.
Ms Hooper said over the last month AWL NSW Eurobodalla branch had rehoused five new puppies and eight dogs.
Ms Brady said, "for most of them it is easy to find a home".
"We do get quite a few applications for our dogs and they are sorted through quite carefully because we don't want returns."
Carers are a critical part of the rehousing cycle. Without these generous people who temporarily care for the animals, the AWL and RSPCA would not have the luxury of having the time needed to find the right forever homes.
Ms Brady said, "we are always after carers. We never have enough of them".
There is no cost involved, full support is available at all times and there is flexibility if carers need a holiday or fall sick. Ms Webb encouraged people to talk to the RSPCA about becoming foster carers, viewing them as the solution to the steady rise in surrendered pets.
Ms Webb and Ms Brady would like landlords to be more flexible about accepting tenants with animals.
"A lot of the time pets are better behaved than children, and even the tenants," said Ms Brady.
Ms Webb suggested giving people with pets a trial period.
"Often animals are viewed as part of the family. To be separated can be very stressful and upsetting for people and the animals."
Everyone can help by supporting the organisations' fundraisers.
AWL NSW Eurobodalla holds its major fundraiser, Tailwaggers, on Sunday, September 18. Pre-pandemic up to 120 dogs would walk to Mill Bay and Bar Beach then return for games and activities.
