Bathurst’s Small Animal Pound has been experiencing a welcome growth in the rehoming of pets, highlighting a growth in awareness about the benefits of rescuing an animal.
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With numbers of pound intakes often spiking around the Christmas and New Year period, the awareness of animals up for adoption has increased thanks to engaging social media posts and heightened promotion by Bathurst Regional Council.
Council’s senior ranger Margaret Gaal said the rise in the rehoming of pets has been very pleasing.
“We’re rehoming more dogs and cats, and the council is making sure that every cat sold from the pound is desexed, microchipped and vaccinated,” Ms Gaal said.
“It’s very positive and it’s working really well.”
Back in July, council brought in a $145 fee for cats being sold from the pound to ensure a greater peace of mind for those wanting to adopt and rehome a cat.
The fee covers a cat’s desexing, microchipping, deworming and vaccinations.
In addition, there has been a rise in pets who have been missing for years being reunited with their owners.
“We had a pair of dogs at the pound a couple of weeks ago that had been stolen from their owners two years ago,” Ms Gaal said.
“Thanks to the microchips, we were able to contact the owners and they came and picked them up.”
The growing prevalence of microchipping pets has aided the pound in rehoming animals for many years and, along with the council’s biannual desexing program, has contributed to a decline in unwanted pets.
“Microchipping has been in place since 1998, and has proven beneficial in reuniting pets with their owners,” Ms Gaal said.
“With microchips, you can go through the NSW Office of Local Government to find out a pet’s entire history.”
“Furthermore, we’re the only council in NSW who puts $20,000 towards a pet desexing program each year.”
The NSW Pet Registry, a key database within the Office of Local Government, stores the details of every microchipped animal state-wide.
The council's desexing program has been in place since 2003 and is open to pensioners and low income earners.