Welcome, divine viewers,
to Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
Today, we’re going
to the Gold Coast,
a city in the state of
Queensland, Australia
to visit the non-profit
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland, a caring
shelter for dogs and cats.
Let us begin
by speaking with
the League’s Strategic
Development Officer
Ms. Joy Verrinder
about the group’s history
and activities.
The Animal Welfare
League was founded
in 1959 by a group
of dedicated citizens.
They started as a very
small group of people,
rattling cans
on street corners
with little dogs
and raising awareness
amongst the public.
And from there, the
Animal Welfare League
has grown into
an organization that now
employs over 120 people
and has about
500 volunteers, and
takes in 10,000 stray and
abandoned cats and dogs
a year plus a number of
other animals if needed
like horses and sheep
and goats and so on.
The League strongly
believes that in working
with the community
to end the practice
of euthanasia
in pounds and shelters.
A number of years ago,
we actually put
a huge survey in the paper.
And we actually
informed people
of the number of animals
that were being killed
on the Gold Coast alone,
and we asked them
did they think
that was acceptable.
And then we put up
a whole heap of solutions
that we thought
would be helpful
to prevent the number
of animals being born
that don’t end up
with a home to go to.
And we found
that obviously 99.9%
all said that it was
totally unacceptable,
and they would be
totally supportive
of bringing in de-sexing
and micro-chipping
prior to sale or transfer.
To minimize the birth of
kittens and puppies that
would end up homeless,
the League
has been reaching out
to local governments in
Queensland and working
with them on solutions.
We’ve been working
very strongly
with local governments
and state governments; it
takes a long time to work
through these processes,
but gradually people are
becoming more aware
that it is a problem.
And we’ve been very
excited in Queensland:
the state governments
are now funding
de-sexing projects
in four councils
this year and next,
and that’s helping.
The Animal Welfare
League of Queensland
provides spaying
and neutering,
along with other services
at its clinic, and
takes into consideration
the caregiver’s
ability to pay in
charging for procedures.
We’re working on
a model for the whole city,
and it includes having
a community vet clinic, to
offer low cost de-sexing
and micro-chipping
to the public, as well as
any veterinary services
that are needed.
When they can’t afford to
pay for veterinary work
our community
veterinary clinic actually
provides the opportunity
for those animals
to be treated, and
we bring the cost down
as low as we possibly can,
until we get to the point
where the person
can afford it, so that
they don’t have to
give up their animal.
So that’s the purpose
of a community vet clinic,
to be there like a public
hospital for all animals,
but mainly cats and dogs.
We have many vets now
employed, seven vets on
at any one time,
and we do thousands
of de-sexings every year,
but we also treat all other
sorts of other illnesses
and diseases in
our community vet clinic.
The League depends
on foster carers
to help fulfill its mission.
Approximately 95% of
the animals in the League’s
foster care program
are kittens and puppies.
Generally a carer
will take in the baby
for about eight weeks
and then return them
to the League.
Technology is helping
to facilitate the running
of carer programs
across Australia.
People who have
computer expertise like
software programmers
can do a huge amount.
Just recently
that’s starting to appear
in Australia, where
software programmers
offer their services
to develop foster care
databases, for example,
so that pounds and shelters
can foster out
little animals that are
under eight weeks of age.
They can then
be cared for until
they’re old enough to be
de-sexed and re-homed,
or sick animals can be
fostered out, or animals
that need a bit of training
because they’re too timid
and don’t survive well
in a pound or
shelter environment.
I think foster caring
is one of the most
important things that
people in the community
can do.
Even people who
don’t have a lot of space
or don’t want to have
a full-time commitment
for an animal can put in,
say one month caring for
a mother and her litter
of little kittens, until
the kittens are old enough
to be de-sexed
and the mother
can have the milk dry
and then can be de-sexed,
and that’s all contributing
to reducing
this oversupply of kittens
that are being born
every year that
are causing the problem
for the whole community,
with not being able
to find enough homes
for them all.
When we return,
we’ll take a look around
the League’s community
veterinary clinic.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back,
wonderful viewers,
to Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants
on Supreme Master
Television.
Our show features the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland,
a non-profit organization
that takes in 10,000
stray and surrendered
cats and dogs each year
and works in harmony
with the community
to see that
the needs of local animals
are met and
that they are respected.
The League
has created a community
veterinary clinic where
animal companions are
treated at reduced rates.
Ms. Joy Verrinder,
the League’s Strategic
Development Officer
will now show us
around the facility.
This is our community
vet clinic, where
members of the public
come for their animals
to be treated.
This is purely for animals
that are already in
their own homes, no matter
where they’ve come from.
So it’s anyone who needs
assistance with treatment
for their animals,
whether it be
regular immunization
or their animal
has a broken leg
that needs to be fixed
or needs to be de-sexed
and micro-chipped.
At the moment it’s
tick season in Australia,
which means that
a lot of dogs that live in
rural areas in particular,
end up with ticks on them
that cause paralysis,
which is really serious, so
we get a lot of admissions
because of tick fever.
We believe that every city
and shire should be
providing this service for
its animals because why
should animals miss out
when humans don’t?
There’s a public hospital
for humans, there should
be a public hospital
or a community vet clinic
for animals.
Besides its community
veterinary clinic,
the League also runs
a shelter veterinary clinic
where stray
and abandoned animals
can be treated before
they go to new homes.
You need a shelter
veterinary clinic, which
can be in the same place,
but ours
is in a different spot
on the one side.
And that’s for treating all
the animals that come in
that are abandoned.
This is Shelby
and she’s been through
our veterinary clinic and
obviously needed some
work done on her face,
so she’s got some stitches
and she’ll be healed
very shortly, and she’s
available for re-homing
so she’s in her
re-homing pen already.
And we also have Bundy
walking around
in this same environment
and Bundy’s had
her de-sexing operation
and she’s raring to go.
She’s only six months old
so she’s very excitable
and really looking for
a family to give her lots
of exercise and attention.
Hallo, darling.
It’s so good having
the vet clinic on site,
which means
you can treat all dogs,
for all sort of things,
whether it be broken legs
or injuries like this dog’s
obviously had to the face
or it might have been
a little tumor or cancer
or something that the vet’s
been able to remove,
so that then they’re ready
for re-homing.
The League is active
in reaching out
to the community
to raise awareness on
a variety of issues related
to our animal companions.
We have huge community
education programs.
We have four
trained teachers on staff,
who go out into schools,
but we have community
education as well.
So we invite the community
to come in and do tours.
We invite school children
to come in and do activities
here at the refuge, which
is quite unique, I think.
There’re a lot of animal
welfare organizations
that have school programs
where you go out
to the school,
but we strongly believe in
bringing in the children,
including high school
children, to the refuge,
so that they get exposed
to the numbers of animals
that are being
abandoned.
And they get to
wash them and walk them
and learn about
their veterinary care
and learn about
early age de-sexing, which
is absolutely essential
to prevent animal
from breeding, when
there’s too many out there.
Our catch-cry is,
“Desex, identify, train,
and keep safe,”
and we teach that
to everybody, and
encourage the community
to understand that
if everybody did those
four things, we wouldn’t
have the situation
of all these animals
being abandoned, and
ending up being killed
in pounds and shelters.
So, that’s the first thing
we believe: Communities
are responsible for
their own animals,
and they should be
informed of
what’s happening,
where they are being
abandoned and
how many there are
and how to solve it.
And we strongly believe
that every animal
values its life
and deserves to live.
And therefore
it’s our responsibility
to put every effort in
to make it happen
because they have feelings;
they value their lives
just as much as we do.
And it is inappropriate
and totally unethical
to assume that we have
the right to kill animals
just because we haven’t
managed our animals
appropriately
in our communities.
We thank Ms. Joy Verrinder
of the Animal Welfare
League of Queensland
for speaking with us about
her organization’s clinics
and community
outreach programs.
Please join us tomorrow
on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants
for Part 2 of our show
featuring the presentation
of the Shining World
Compassion Award
to the League and more
highlights of our visit
to the League’s facility.
For more details on the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland,
please visit
Thank you
for your company today
on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
Up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
May Heaven’s love
always be in your life.
Everyone wants to live
a healthy life.
US naturopath,
herbalist and author
Dr. Steve Blake believes
that we can empower
people with knowledge
to help them
make informed dietary
decisions and assist them
towards that goal.
Sunflower seeds are
very rich in vitamin E.
They’re one of
the cheapest of
all the nuts and seeds,
and really a healthful
product.
Hazelnuts and almonds
also have a nice amount.
For other nutrition tips,
please join us for Part 2
of “Wise Eating With
Dr. Steve Blake,”
Monday, May 3,
on Healthy Living.
Everywhere in the world,
we can observe
and be touched
by acts of kindness.
People from all walks of
life, faiths, and cultures
extend themselves
beyond the call of duty
to help others
unconditionally.
Through their noble deeds,
humanity as a whole
is elevated.
To commend
virtuous actions and
encourage more people
to be inspired
by their examples,
Supreme Master
Ching Hai
has lovingly created
a series of awards,
including the Shining
World Leadership
Award, Shining World
Compassion Award,
Shining World Hero and
Heroine Awards, Shining
World Honesty Award,
Shining World Protection
Award, Shining World
Intelligence Award,
and Shining World
Inventor Award,
to recognize some
of the most exemplary,
generous, caring,
and courageous people
who walk amongst us.
Welcome, joyful viewers,
to today’s edition
of the Shining World
Compassion Award series
celebrating the
remarkable work of the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland, located
in sunny Gold Coast,
Queensland, Australia.
Since 1959 the League
has been rescuing
abandoned and stray
cats and dogs
and providing them with
shelter and care until
they find suitable homes.
Another reason the League
is a tremendous asset
to the community
is that it offers spaying
and neutering services
that help to prevent
the birth of kittens
and puppies who
would end up homeless.
The organization has
many dedicated staff
members, volunteers and
community supporters.
One of the founders
of the organizations
back in 1959,
Neil Anderson, is actually
still on the committee,
still coming to
board meetings and shows
an absolute commitment
to the progress
of the organization.
And in addition to that,
his daughter
is the president now and
has been giving her time,
seven days a week, to
the organization full-time,
does not take a salary,
just is totally committed
to making this work.
And that’s how you end up
with an organization,
that gradually
pulls in people
that all love animals
and believe in the fact
that they deserve a life
and they deserve
to be cared for.
So we end up
with lots of volunteers
and lots of staff.
We have lots of
volunteers who have
done amazing things.
For example,
few years ago, Judy Clark,
one of our volunteers,
decided that
the long-term animals,
that means the dogs
that maybe are waiting
longer than two months
for a home, sometimes
it takes a while till they
find their perfect match,
she decided that they
should get to go out of
the shelter environment
and have some fun,
and so she initiated
a beach walking program
and that has continued for
the last seven or so years,
where a group of volunteers
come three days a week,
they put the animals
in the van, in a trailer.
They take them down
to the beach; they meet
a group of volunteers.
They all
walk on the beach,
they play in the water,
and they have fun.
Then they bring them back
and they do a second trip
and a third trip, and they
repeat that every week
for three days a week and
the dogs get used to it.
They get to know
that they’re going to
get a beach trip,
to the extent that
on a normal day when it’s
not a beach walking day,
the dogs tend to run past
the trailer and jump in
because they think
it’s time to go to the beach.
Sue is one of the people
who takes animals
to the beach on a Monday,
Wednesday and Friday.
Oh, great!
I can imagine
they’d love it.
They love it.
They go swimming,
they go running and
playing with each other.
That’s wonderful!
And do you notice
a distinct lift
in their spirits?
Yes!
They’re very, very happy
to be down there.
As they wait to be adopted
by loving caregivers, the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland
tries its best to
prepare each of the lovely,
sweet-natured animals
for life in their future
forever home.
That’s the whole point.
So that they’re then ready
when they go into a home,
they’re used
to the outside world,
they’re not getting timid
and scared, and they’re
meeting lots of people,
which is so important
for all animals.
And the same with the cats,
we’re introducing
programs constantly, not
only just for petting cats
when they’re waiting
for their new homes,
but also
some enrichment and
rehabilitation programs,
so that cats are not left
feeling bored and
isolated in their cages.
We have
a large re-homing area
where animals
get to walk around.
We put about 15 cats
in the one area
or 30 kittens at a time
so they can jump up
on high perches on walls
or they can climb
along surfaces up high.
They can go
into an outdoor enclosure
where they can get access
to the sun in winter
and get some fresh air,
and basically choose
what they want to do
in their own space.
It might mean
some of them want to hide
for awhile, for example.
And then
we need people to go in
and help encourage them
to come out
and get used to people,
because some cats are
quite solitary creatures
and quite nervous
around people.
So, there’s
a lot of work to be done
to encourage them
to feel comfortable
with people and
enjoy their surroundings
while they’re waiting
to get their perfect home
as well.
When we come back,
we’ll learn about the
adoption process at the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back
to the Shining World
Compassion Award series
on Supreme Master
Television.
Since 1959 the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland has been
rescuing stray and
abandoned cats and dogs
and helping
to prevent the birth of
kittens and puppies that
would become homeless
through a spaying
and neutering program.
For those members of
the community needing
financial assistance to
provide medical care to
their animal companions,
the League runs
a community
veterinary clinic where
services are available
at reduced rates.
For stray animals needing
medical attention,
the League operates
a shelter veterinary clinic.
Now, let’s visit the
re-homing pens and learn
about the organization’s
adoption process.
This is one of
the kitten re-homing pens
and as you can see,
they settle in pretty fast
and they have lots of fun.
And they have lots of toys
and different things
to play with,
and when people
come to adopt a kitten
they do an interview and
then they come down here
and they can
come into the pens
and sit down on the floor
with the kittens and play
with them and work out
which little kitten they
want to fall in love with.
And that means people
get a good opportunity
to get to know the animal
before they adopt and
they enjoy coming here.
And we also have
some people here
having a look at the dogs;
this is where
they come to assess
whether they would like
to adopt one of them.
If they have
a dog of their own,
they’re required to
attend a meet and greet,
which means they have to
bring their own animal in,
so that they can meet
to see if they’re going
to be happy together.
For its many years
of compassionate
commitment to animals,
Supreme Master Ching Hai
recently honored the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland
with the Shining World
Compassion Award.
The following is an excerpt
from a warm letter
the organization
received from
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
It is with great pleasure
and gratitude
that we present to the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland
the “Shining World
Compassion Award.”
This Award is presented
in recognition
of the League’s
outstanding efforts
to extend warm-hearted
care and concern
towards our
animal friends in need.
Since 1959,
your organization
has opened its hearts to
countless helpless creatures,
dependant on us
for their well being,
and currently cares
for over 12,000 animals
each year
from the Gold Coast
and surrounding areas.
For decades
of abundant love and
heartfelt care and affection,
for your empathetic and
gracious commitment to
the care of precious lives,
and for endless, untiring
devotion, we hereby
applaud and celebrate
the nurturing deeds
of the Animal Welfare
League of Queensland,
Incorporated.
With grateful thanks
to the dedicated staff,
volunteers
and supporters,
With Great Honour,
Love and Blessings,
Supreme Master
Ching Hai.
The League was presented
with a selection of
Supreme Master
Ching Hai’s books,
CDs and DVDs
as well as a beautiful
crystal Award plaque,
which reads as follows:
In Recognition
Of Decades
Of Unconditional Love
And Selfless Service,
Nurturing And Re-homing
Our Canine And
Feline Friends In Need,
With Kindness,
Dedication And Heavenly
Care And Protection,
With Compliments
And Gratitude
For Your Immense
Generosity Of Spirit
And Enlightened Service
To the Community.
To support the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland’s
noble mission,
Supreme Master Ching Hai
also made a contribution
of AUD$10,000.
Thank you, oh,
thank you so much!
This has just come
at a good time.
We had a huge fire,
it’s a couple of weeks ago,
so we lost for the animals,
all the bedding and food,
and everything we had
was stored down there.
So, it’ll really
help out a lot as well.
We’ll put this towards
our foster program that
we have at the moment.
It’s quite a large program
with about
just over 300 animals
out on foster care
at the moment, little ones
that are needing a home,
just until they get back
on their feet,
a little bit more TLC so
they can go through and
get their permanent home,
so this will definitely
be put to good use,
so it will be saving
a lot of lives, actually.
So, that’s wonderful, and
our heartfelt thanks to
Supreme Master
Ching Hai
for her generosity and
compassion to our work
and helping us save
all these wonderful lives.
Thank you.
Thank you so much,
Denise, thank you.
Considering the League’s
amazing achievements
over the past 50 plus years,
we asked the
organization’s co-founder
Mr. Neil Anderson
how he feels
about its progress.
It’s just wonderful,
it’s really wonderful and
I have to say my thanks
goes out to all those
people, staff, and
wonderful volunteers.
We congratulate the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland for its
well-deserved recognition.
May the League’s work
continue to spread
compassion for animals
in the Gold Coast region
and beyond.
For more details on the
Animal Welfare League
of Queensland,
please visit
Thank you for joining us
on this edition
of the Shining World
Compassion Award series.
Up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
May the light of Heaven
guide you to inner peace.
The sobering documentary
“Earthlings,” directed
by vegan filmmaker
Shaun Monson and
narrated by esteemed US
actor Joaquin Phoenix
demonstrates how we
have severely mistreated
our animal friends
in the name of so-called
“scientific research.”
20 years ago,
the number of animals
dying of tortures through
the practice of vivisection
was astronomical,
estimated at 400,000
per day worldwide,
and growing at
an annual rate of 5%.
Today that number
is almost beyond
comprehension.
19,000 per minute.
10 billion per year.
Join us for the conclusion
of “Earthlings”
Tuesday, May 4
on Stop Animal Cruelty.