The SMART Animal Sanctuary in Kunama is steadily growing, both in numbers and infrastructure, unhindered by the limits that the Covid-19 pandemic put on in-person fundraising.
Lorene Cross, founder of the sanctuary, said the new climate-controlled kennels for big dogs have been completed and is currently able to house 16 animals.
“We’re buzzing away, picking up out of pounds and picking up more animals than ever,” she said.
The Sanctuary has recently been busy rehoming “the Vikings”, a group of half a dozen puppies which Mrs Cross described as “very, very cute”. The pups were housed together in one of the 16 kennels.
“We’re buzzing, definitely going off,” said Mrs Cross.
While the kennel area is able to comfortably house the dogs, Mrs Cross said there are some amenities still to be built to finish the project, including finishing the kitchen, building some additional outdoor runs and installing solar power to run the air conditioners and fans.
“Just home comforts, really,” said Mrs Cross.
The project budget was close to $150,000, with the bulk of those funds raised through private donations. SMART also received a $3,500 grant from an online voting competition run early last year by SavourLife, a dog food company which also invests heavily in pet adoption.
Mrs Cross said fundraising during a pandemic has been challenging, but she and her ‘brilliant’ team found ways to connect with donors.
“We’re pretty pushy,” she laughed.
“We just love what we do and I think service is a really big part of it and just being there for people.
“To us, to me, the sooner I get [animals] in, the sooner I can get them out and then I can go and get more and just keep pumping them through. The more I can get out, hopefully there will be less of a problem.”
She estimated that SMART rehomed more than 30 animals last month, including a variety of cats and dogs, plus a rooster.
“There’s a lot of good people out there,” she said.
The Sanctuary is also a permanent home for several ‘pet’ camels which Mrs Cross allows her visitors to feed and pat. They were rescued from the sale yard at Echuca and are now left free to roam around the yards at SMART, sheltering in a specially-built camel shed during the wet weather.
