Top fundraisers Shanaika Perera and her chocolate Labrador, Thor, will walk 30 minutes a day for Walk This May, a month-long COVID-safe iteration of the RSPCA Million Paws Walk fundraiser, now in its second year.
The dedicated duo has collected about $10,000 for the local animal shelter over the past decade, and theyโre sitting in the top five on the national fundraising leaderboard again this year.
Ms Perera approaches about 300 people to donate to the cause in the lead up to the annual walk, which she says is the most exciting event on her calendar.
โItโs like Christmas for me!โ she said.
Thor has always loved the pre-COVID family-friendly day by the lake and โ true to his food-motivated breed โ the snacking opportunities that come with it.
โAt the last walk (2019) he stole an empanada out of this kidโs hand, and the parents thought it was hilarious!โ
Ms Perera has been an animal lover since she was a little girl and canโt stomach animal cruelty.
She said she became determined to support her local shelter after finding out how heavily it relied on public donations.
RSPCA ACT has a service funding arrangement with the ACT Government, which accounts for up to just 17% of the organisationโs cashflow.
Fundraising by people like Ms Perera is โabsolutely vitalโ to the survival of the shelter, according to RSPCA ACT CEO Michelle Robertson.
โIn reality, itโs because of donations and community support that we are able to exist,โ she said.
โShanaika is an absolute legend and so is Thor, we absolutely love them both to bits.โ
Walk This May participants who select RSPCA ACT as their fundraising recipient will help pay for accommodation, medical care, rehabilitation, rehoming, community engagement and protection for animals in the ACT.
โThatโs the beauty of it, if you register with RSPCA ACT, every single dollar goes local, to us,โ Ms Robertson said.
Shelter animal foster carers are โangelsโ in the eyes of Ms Robertson, particularly while RSPCA ACT is experiencing an โincredibly long and intenseโ kitten season, with over 200 kittens in care, too young to be adopted.
RSPCA ACT cared for over 1,700 animals and placed 728 animals in foster care over the last financial year, to February 2021.
During the same period, the animal shelter provided emergency boarding for 114 animals whose owners were experiencing a personal crisis, be it mental or physical illness, domestic or family violence, or another life event.
Ms Robertson said demand for emergency pet accommodation was increasing year-on-year.
โSo that is worrying on the one hand, because itโs a reflection of whatโs happening in the community.
โWeโve been trying to build additional capacity to provide that service to the community, because itโs so necessary.โ
RSPCA ACT also cares for animals who experience abuse at the hands of their owner, like a puppy called Bayley that last year lived at the shelter for nine months.
โHe was rescued by inspectors and in awful condition; he was burned by cooking oil as a pup and never treated,โ Ms Roberston said.
An expert team helped him heal physically and mentally before finding him a safe home with a loving family.
โThatโs why this level of fundraising is so important; the animals that come in, they donโt stay with us for a day, they stay with us, some of them, for an immense period of time,โ Ms Robertson said.
โBut we focus on those good outcomes, we take a situation and try to make it better, so that animal can go on to live a happy life.โ
Visit rspca-act.org.au for more information or sign up to participate in Walk this May at millionpawswalk.com.au; you can support Shanaika and Thorโs efforts via millionpawswalk.com.au/fundraisers/shanaikaperera/act
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