By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
A NEW direction for Geelong’s animal welfare service hopes to put its finances back into the black after successive annual losses.
Geelong Animal Welfare Society (GAWS) has undergone a restructure to curb expenses under recently-appointed chief executive officer Adrian Buckley.
Mr Buckley said the business was operating unsustainably as little as three months ago.
The Independent reported in March that GAWS faced a $486,000 deficit following a $261,000 loss in 2013.
“The streamlined business has put the operational focus firmly on the animals but the shelter remains unfunded so GAWS is seeking community support in donations and fundraising,” Mr Buckley said.
The new direction was focused on educating the community about the role of GAWS, he said.
Geelong council contracts GAWS to operate a pound but the service also runs an unfunded animal shelter and a vet clinic.
“There has been some confusion about GAWS and its role in the community,” Mr Buckley said.
“We’re working collaboratively with the council, rescue groups and other key stakeholders because we want to educate our community about the need for all of us to take responsibility for saving abandoned animals.
“The work at the shelter is all about providing medical care for surrendered and lost animals, retraining where needed and rehoming them as quickly as possible.
“We achieve great rehoming rates at GAWS – around 90 per cent for dogs and 75 per cent for cats – but, of course, this is what the community expects.
“The shelter is unfunded and we are keen to better explain the role it plays in looking after the community’s animals.
“At GAWS, we believe all cats and dogs are equally deserving of our utmost efforts to preserve and enhance their lives.
“We’re also promoting our vet clinic to the public as a way of supporting GAWS; the profits from our vet clinic go into supporting the shelter and caring for the animals before they are rehomed.”
Mr Buckley cited the recent visit of US animal management experts Trish McMillan Loehr and Dr Cynthia Karsten to train staff and improve services.
“It’s always a good exercise to look for ways to improve and having Cynthia and Trish visit us is one of the highlights of the year for GAWS.”
