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Fostering Life:Australia’s Animal Rights and Rescue Group - P1/2
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Welcome excellent viewers
to Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
The Animal Rights
and Rescue Group,
an Australian non-profit
organization founded by
Barbara Steffensen
in 1995, seeks to
rescue homeless, abused,
abandoned and unwanted
animal companions
and place them
with foster carers
until they can be taken in
by a suitable home.
It is the only
no-kill rescue group
in the Northern Rivers
region in the state of
New South Wales.
No-kill means that no
animal is ever euthanized
unless they are
so seriously injured or ill
that they cannot be saved.
I moved to the region
about 20 years ago
and then, just in a matter
of a few years, I realized
there were situations here
that needed action to do
with animal welfare
and cruelty.
I’ve been involved with
animal welfare issues
and animal rights
for many, many years
and I wanted the message
to get through that
it wasn’t only about
rescuing animals,
unwanted animals
and abused animals;
it was representing
their rights too; because
without their rights
then this can continue.
And so it was important
for me to let the people
know that there was
an element of fighting
for their rights, as well as
rescuing them from
their current situation.
Ms. Steffensen began small,
using her own home
to house animals
for a number of years.
We always knew
we wanted to expand
the program.
I mean this region is
a large region that we
deal with and,
you always feel as if
you are only helping
such a small number,
that you want to do
so much more.
And originally we
operated from my home
for eight years and
I had turned a lot of
the outdoor areas into
areas for the foster dogs.
So a lot of them
lived with me.
And then the foster
care program grew and
we got more foster carers
on board, cats and dogs.
And for eight years
we operated from
that private home.
But we had planned,
we always had a goal of
building a center and
the next step was in 2005
we moved into our center
here that we built
in Lismore.
Non-kill in itself is still
very new in Australia.
They are still very geared
towards the traditional
shelters, which have
a deadline date, instead
of having the belief
that all animals
given individual care
can be rehabilitated
and re-homed.
Our animals live in
foster care homes, which
is very different, so they
get individual treatment.
Sadly a lot of them are
abused and it takes a while
for them to recover
and so that’s part
of our program.
The rescue involves
whatever they need
to recover; whether it’s
veterinary treatment
or emotional healing.
And foster homes are the
only way you can do that.
Since its humble beginnings,
the Group has rescued
and re-homed over
10,000 animal companions.
How many animals
do they save
on an annual basis?
The number has grown
every year, from 1995.
And so the current figure
is well over 1200,
closer to 1500 last year.
And they go into
foster care.
All the animals live in
private homes, which is
a wonderful system.
There’s an organization
in America that has
a wonderful slogan, that
every day the animal is
with that organization
and with their
foster carers, they
will be even more ready
for their adoption, they
will be more adoptable.
And that’s true because
you bring training in and
the socialization and you
just get them ready
for that new home.
And also it gives us
a great insight into what
they can deal with
for their new home.
And we match the home
to the animal’s needs and
not the other way round.
Let’s now meet Jennifer,
a volunteer with the Group.
I decided to come up here
once a week and
do what I could to help.
It’s just a very
worthwhile cause.
It makes you feel
really good working for
an organization that
doesn’t euthanize animals.
What Barbara and all
of her foster carers and
volunteers do here
is really worthwhile
and wonderful.
Animals have no voice
and so we have to speak
for them and so many
of them are abandoned.
As you can see
all these animals here are
absolutely beautiful
little things and they are
so dependent on us
for their welfare
like beautiful Ruby.
It’s a really great place.
The Group also assists
local residents
in re-homing their
animal companion if they
feel they are unable to
care for them any longer.
Sometimes the Group
can resolve issues so that
re-homing is not
necessary.
We also help with people
that ring and they feel
that they have to
re-home the pet.
So we’ll then tell them
the truth about
the statistics and what’s
happening in shelters and
pounds, the high number
of animals that are killed.
And they are often
very shocked when they
realize that they might be
even putting their own dog
into that same situation.
So we start talking
about how can we help.
We even have gone out
and built fences,
numerous times,
where they say they are
having problems with
the dog jumping.
We do temporary care;
we get dog training
for them, we go out there
and visit the pet
and see what’s going on
with the situation.
We give them
some confidence
and some faith again,
because that’s what
they often need and also
we tell them, “If you
still feel you can’t cope,
we will re-home your pet,
but we do it safely.”
Please stay tuned to
Supreme Master
Television.
We’ll be right back
with more
on the wonderful work
of the Animal Rights
and Rescue Group
in New South Wales,
Australia.
Welcome back to
Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants
featuring
Barbara Steffensen, vegan
founder and president
of the Animal Rights
and Rescue Group
in New South Wales,
Australia.
Another way the Group
assists the community
is by taking care of
the animal companions
of those
who are hospitalized.
So we looked at how we
could expand, reaching
to the pets to help them
through people,
and so we developed
a relationship with
the local agencies here
such as the hospital,
the women’s refuge,
the Richmond
Mental Health Clinic,
and so we found that
their programs don’t
actually include
any assistance
for their client’s pets.
And so we’ve worked
with them closely for
about eight years where
we’re often going into
people’s homes to
look after their pets
while the people are
hospitalized, or
while they going in
for regular treatment
and some of those
social workers actually
just call us the moment
they know that
their client is going into
the hospital or had
a (mental) breakdown,
or is in need for some
treatment, and while
that’s helping people
it’s still reaching the pets
that need help.
One of our main aims is
to do everything we can
to keep a pet in their home.
Because otherwise
in the alternative they
may end up in a shelter
or in a pound.
And so it’s vital that
you provide assistance
and support if that pet
has got a loving home
and a person that cares
about them, but if they
are having a crisis
or are ill, then you do
everything you can to
keep that pet there
until the person is back
on track again.
Some people may feel
a need to talk to someone
about whether
they should adopt
an animal companion.
Ms. Steffensen now
relates a touching story
about a Group volunteer
who assisted an elderly
gentleman named Keith
who was undergoing
challenging times.
We’re always here
to talk to people.
And I think that’s how
we manage to see some
of the most wonderful
stories, because a lot of
people don’t know
who to talk to.
There are not a lot of
places you can go
to talk about
companion animals.
You’ve got your vet clinics,
but that obviously
if you don’t have a pet
you can’t go there.
So they can come here
and talk to us.
And we find an area that
we’re often helping
is with the senior people.
They get to an age where
they feel they shouldn’t
have another pet,
and maybe they’re not
getting the support from
their family
to have another pet.
And there’s one story
that just epitomized
the whole thing.
A dear gentleman rang us
and he was very unsure
of himself on the phone
whether he should be
doing this,
but he just wanted to
talk to somebody.
And he’d sadly lost
his wife and his old dog
in a very short space of
time, and he was just lost,
and he was ready
to give up.
And he’d just thought
he’d feel his way and see
if we could talk to him,
and so of course we did.
And we encouraged him
to consider and to look at
a few of our little dogs.
He wanted a little dog
and we just had one
really perfect for him
and that was Reggie.
So anyway, our
volunteer, Louise, and
our volunteers take a lot
of time with each case,
took that case on.
And she went to his home
and talked to him and
explained, and checked
the garden and whatever.
And then she helped
Reggie and Keith;
she did the introduction.
And Reggie and Keith are
absolutely inseparable.
It’s beautiful to see.
I drive home through
a particular part of
Lismore every day
from work here, and
I go up this particular
main road, and
nearly every afternoon,
there’s Keith and Reggie
marching down the road
with the lead on,
having their walks.
And he is just so bright
now, well both of them
are very bright, and
Keith brings Reggie
over here in a taxi
every couple of weeks
just to see us and to
have someone to talk to.
And that’s just a person
that would have not have
had a friend, who would
not have had company,
and would have just, lived
the last few years alone.
So taking the time
to talk to people about all
sorts of different kind of
adoptions really works.
We greatly appreciate
Animal Rights
and Rescue Group’s
deep dedication to
finding abandoned and
unwanted companion
animals new homes.
Please join us again
tomorrow
on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants
for Part 2 of our program
where we will feature
the presentation of
the Shining World
Compassion Award
to Barbara Steffensen.
For more information
on the Animal Rights
and Rescue Group,
please visit
Good friends,
it was a pleasure
having your company
on today’s program.
Up next is
Enlightening Entertainment
after Noteworthy News
here on
Supreme Master Television.
May Love always
encompass our planet.
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