Since 1946, Sydney Dogs and Cats Home has been providing refuge to lost and abandoned pets. In early 2015, we received the devastating news that our facility in Carlton was slated for redevelopment rendering the Home – homeless.

Thanks to the support of the State Government, this place of refuge now has a much brighter future, after securing a long term community lease at a site in the Sutherland Shire Council area of Kurnell.

It has been a long road to get us to where we are today and without the support of the State Government, and the greater community, we would not have been able to achieve this wonderful result. So a big thank you to all of our supporters from all of us, especially the many animals we care for each year.  The future of Sydney Dogs and Cats Home is now secured.

We look forward to building a state-of-the-art combined animal shelter and community facility, allowing us to continue our vital lifesaving service for many years to come and to increase all our community-based activities.  These programs include aged and disability care initiatives, a student reading program as well as a rehabilitation program in conjunction with the Australian Army which supports injured trainee soldiers.

Thanks to this positive progress, we look forward to continuing our partnerships and service to our current 8 local council areas of Sydney, providing their communities, with a best-practice pound services option.

Our focus, as it has always been, is to be a front runner in animal welfare practices and responsible reuniting and rehoming options for lost and abandoned pets. Through the nature of our work, we have also found that we can provide meaningful opportunities to support those people in the community that need it most.

The team has begun extensive research into best practice animal sheltering and community facilities both in Australia and Overseas, to ensure what we build today will stand the test of time and enable us to provide a world class service to the Greater Sydney area for many years come.

The Home, has received nearly $1.5 million in donations since announcing the need to relocate in 2015, that will go towards our initial $3 million target to start stage 1 of the build. With the ambitious target to raise over $8 million by 2020, we are now calling on the community to get behind their great work and make a tax deductible donation to the build of our new Home.

When we launched the Senior Pet Project back in May, we knew that we were highlighting a special group of animals that need our help, sometimes more than most.

What we weren’t prepared for was the outpouring of support, we’ve received from you, our supporters.  Thank you so much!

As soon as we introduced our first senior, Betty White, we were overwhelmed with the number of visitors, messages, phone calls, letters of support and donations that has not only been incredibly heart-warming, but has put us on the right path to be able to provide what is needed for the senior cases that WILL need us tomorrow.

We did set ourselves the ambitious target to raise $100K by 30 June. With only a number of days to go we are so excited to say that we are only $15,000 away from reaching this incredible goal, thanks to the support of our donors!

Thank you so much if you have contributed to our Senior Pet Project, if you would like to have a recap of the senior cases we’ve highlighted over the past month, please visit here

On behalf of all of us at Sydney Dogs and Cats Home thank you so much for your ongoing support of the work that we do and our special case seniors.

Licks and Sniffs
TEAM SDCH

P.S. We also promised to provide news on our future and our quest for a new site when it became available. Please keep an eye on your inbox in the coming weeks as we edge closer to announcing where our new home will be….

Rambo entered Sydney Dogs and Cats Home just two weeks ago.  A nine-year-old Maltese X, Rambo was found on the street in Allawah in a very sorry state.  He was underweight, his coat was full of burrs and extremely knotted restricting his movements and impairing his vision.  He had missing and rotting teeth and a massive build-up of tarter.  To make matters worse, poor little Rambo also suffered from a permanently dislocated knee cap on his right hind leg causing him further discomfort and a permanent limp.

Concerned for his welfare, our Vet Team quickly stepped into action giving Rambo a thorough examination to determine if there were any additional health issues or concerns.  Thankfully there were not and to alleviate his suffering the Team gave Rambo an anti-inflammatory to reduce his pain, clipped his coat completely and put him on Hill’s Science Diet Youthful Vitality to help him gain weight and improve his overall condition.

Rambo has not been reclaimed by his owner, and our Vet Team would now like to give Rambo the surgery he needs including a major dental and an operation to fix his dislocated knee cap, greatly improving his quality of life.

The vet treatment Rambo requires will cost approximately $2,500.  It is the funds raised through the Senior Pet Project that will help to cover the cost of Rambo’s surgery.  By donating to the Senior Pet Project you will be helping senior pets like Rambo to get the much needed veterinary care they deserve.

Our goal is to raise $100,000 by 30 June in order to fund the Senior Pet Project for the next 12 months.  Donate now to support the Senior Pet Project and give a senior a new leash on life.

P.S.  Rambo (below) is already starting to look better, and please don’t judge our Vet Team’s grooming ability.

Brought in as a stray, Chuck first arrived on the doorstep of Sydney Dogs and Cats Home in May 2017. A lovely Kelpie Cross, Chuck wasn’t microchipped and no one came to claim him.

With the exception of his teeth, this 10-year-old gentleman was in good health.  After performing much needed dental work resulting in the extraction of some teeth, Chuck was ready to be rehomed.

However, it soon became apparent that Chuck wasn’t coping well in the shelter.  He was anxious and fairly distressed and we knew we had to take action.  Thanks to our wonderful network of volunteers a temporary foster home was found for Chuck, enabling him to have some time out of the shelter.

Fortunately for Chuck it didn’t take long upon his return to SDCH to be adopted. But after only four months in his new home, Chuck’s circumstances changed.  His new owner had to move into an aged care facility and couldn’t bring Chuck along.

Chuck once again found himself at SDCH.  Knowing that the shelter was too stressful for Chuck, we placed him into a foster home with Caroline, a first-time foster carer.  Chuck spent two months in his foster home before Alexis spotted him on the SDCH website.

A meet up with Chuck, Caroline and Alexis was organised to see if Alexis and Chuck would be a suitable match. Based on the photos below, we think Chuck and Alexis are a perfect match.  So our beautiful old boy, almost a year on from first entering the Home, has landed himself a wonderful new forever home and human.

With your support we are looking to raise $100,000 by 30 June to fund the Senior Pet Project for the next 12 months, enabling us to provide care for the seniors like Chuck who require a bit more time before they find their homes. Donate now to support the Senior Pet Project.

I had only been appointed as General Manager to Sydney Dogs and Cats Home a short time when I first met 12-year-old Zeek.

I had been told to prepare myself for the neglect cases but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when Zeek first arrived from the Fairfield City Council area just before Christmas.

My heart simply sank.

The first thing you noticed was an orange-sized suspected cancerous growth.  After we ran tests we discovered it was not cancerous.  It was a large necrotic growth that due to his poor skin health, had ulcerated and was hanging painfully from his chest.

We sped him through a consult with our Vet Team and after closer examination, they found he was severely arthritic and his poor old body was covered with large callouses caused we believed from Zeek spending most of his days on concrete.

It was clear, that this sweet old dog would quickly become a favourite amongst the team, including myself. Despite his large size and the small space we call our office there were no objections to having Zeek as our daily office dog.

With no owner in sight and deteriorating health, it was clear that in this current state Zeek would not have long for this world.  So as always my incredible team jumped into action to ensure what time Zeek had left was the best it could possibly be.

This included performing surgery to remove his pendulous tumour, a pain management plan for his arthritis and finding him a palliative care home – preferably a place with a very soft and comfortable bed.

I knew I could provide the perfect place for Zeek to recover after his surgery and to enjoy some much needed TLC.

Initially we had a life expectancy for Zeek of only a few months.   Fast forward to today and he has made an incredible turn-around and is showing no sign of slowing down.

Zeek’s story was our inspiration for the Senior Pet Project, because we not only wanted to highlight this special group but ensure we were prepared for those cases that turn up on our door step tomorrow.

That is why we have set ourselves the ambitious target of raising $100,000 before June 30.  Since we launched the campaign only 3 weeks ago we have raised just shy of $40,000 which will go directly to support the animals in need, like Zeek!

On behalf of all of us at Sydney Dogs and Cats Home, thank you so much to those who have contributed to this campaign.  If you would like to make a donation to support the Senior Pet Project, please do so here .  If you donate before June 30 you can claim your donation in this tax year.

I can personally vouch that special case seniors are worth the time and investment.  The joy and happiness they give makes our Senior Pet Project and the work that we do so worthwhile.

Yours sincerely

Stuart Paine
General Manager

Tasha arrived at Sydney Dogs and Cats Home four days before Christmas.  This  12-year-old girl was in a bit of a state.  She had a flea allergy resulting in inflamed skin, scaly patches and hair loss over a significant portion of her body.  Her ears had signs of chronic inflammation and Tasha had a large hot spot (i.e. hair loss) on the elbow of her left front leg. The little hair she did have was full of flea dirt and her coat had numerous small matts.

Tasha was microchipped and although we tried to contact her owner on several occasions our calls went unanswered and unreturned.  Finally after the 14 day hold period passed, Tasha was ours to care for whilst we tried to find her a new loving home.

Our vet team quickly developed and implemented a care plan for Tasha.  She was given a full-body clip and bathed with a medicated shampoo to soothe her skin.  A good quality flea and mite treatment was also administered to remove the underlying cause of Tasha’s allergy.

In addition to her skin issues, Tasha was also highly anxious. So the team put Tasha on a medication to help reduce her anxiety.  And we were fortunate to be able to place Tasha into foster care with one of volunteers, who happens to be a vet student.

Tasha is doing really well in foster care.  Her hair is growing back and her medication for anxiety has been reduced.  Tasha’s true personality is emerging and despite her age, she is proving to be an energetic, sprightly little dog.  Tasha is a senior pet that has been transformed and is now looking for her new forever home.  Check out Tasha’s profile to learn more about this sweet girl.

With your support we are looking to raise $100,000 by 30 June to fund the Senior Pet Project for the next 12 months, enabling us to provide care for the seniors like Tasha who require a bit more support to prepare them for their new homes. Donate now to support the Senior Pet Project.

For almost seven months, Sasha has been in the care of Sydney Dogs and Cats Home. This warm sweet nine- year-old Staffy X – that’s approximately 61 in human years – was picked up as a stray, and arrived at the Home with her pal Tank, a six-and-half year old Staffy X. Unfortunately due to a change in their owner’s circumstances the pair was surrendered into our care.

Having identified that Sasha was an anxious dog, our behavioural team tried to rehome Tank and Sasha together. However while many people were interested in Tank, Sasha was a bit of a wallflower. No one expressed interest in adopting her.

It is also the rare person who can take on two big boisterous dogs at the same time. So after two months the team made the difficult decision to rehome the pair separately. Tank, immediately found a home and not long after so did Sasha.

Within a few days however Sasha was returned as she didn’t get along with her new housemates, a pair of cats. Again, day in and day out, this beautiful old girl waited patiently at the Home, and despite her gentle loving nature she continued to be overlooked by potential adopters.

Rather than letting Sasha’s anxiety grow with a prolonged stay in the shelter, Sasha was placed into foster care, where she has remained for the past few months. While Sasha is being spoiled rotten and loved very much by her foster family, this is only a temporary arrangement.  Sasha still needs to find her permanent home, and until that time we will continue to look after Sasha’s needs, ensuring she is well cared for.

With your support we are looking to raise $100,000 by 30 June to fund the Senior Pet Project for the next 12 months, enabling us to provide ongoing support for the seniors like Sasha who remain in our care that little bit longer. Donate now to support the Senior Pet Project.