Imagine if something as simple as enjoying a glass of award-winning vegan wine could help animals in need? Well, it turns out that it can thanks to a unique social enterprise called Goodwill Wine. On the 7th of February 2009 David Laity lost most of what he owned to the Black Saturday Bushfires. He was living in a small hamlet called Chum Creek, located between King Lake and Marysville and was volunteering at an animal shelter around the corner. Like many other houses around the state of Victoria, David’s home was hit by the fires that swept through the area, as was the animal shelter he had been volunteering at. “My volunteer work was mainly maintenance, helping around the grounds and building enclosures. I didn’t have the time to commit to the hands-on care of the animals which is a round-the-clock job, but I was doing what I could,” David recalls. “Thankfully none of the animals were killed by the fire but it took a monumental effort by fire crews to save them”. Over the following week, David’s home was hit another 2 times by wildfire and when the fires were eventually put out 3 weeks later, nothing remained. The …

MacIntosh was a very sick pup when he came to us. He circled and paced nonstop. The pressure in his skull intense and a head full of fluid. The damage to his brain causing vision loss. He couldn’t sit still, he couldn’t focus to take direction, he ate very little and lord knows he must have had a whopper of a headache. We weren’t quite sure what we were dealing with until specialist consultation but we soon learned that MacIntsoh had a condition called hydrocephalus. Fluid that surrounds the brain was continually being produced but could not drain away. The specialists were amazed that he was even able to stand in the condition he was in. We don’t know where he had been before he found his way into the pound that, thank goodness contacted us. He was around 10 months old and living in misery for who knows how long. He had no language, no understanding, no concept of touch. It frightened him to be handled. He started on medication to help reduce the fluid, but this was no long-term solution and so we decided, after much thought and consultation that we would go ahead with surgery, where a shunt …

It’s nice to look back on the year past, at the work we have done – and the lives changed as a result. And it becomes apparent that Rescue Charities and groups are becoming ‘the go to place’ rather than a pound or shelter for a dog in need in the community – just by the sheer requests we have had over the past year. Often we are unable to help – and we try and recommend another alternative, or if we can take the little one in question into care, we again remain focused on the dog and not the circumstance. It is fair to say there are a number of reasons why animals are surrendered. Some are justified, some not so much. But the reason matters not, for once the decision is made it becomes a case of an animal in need. And through no fault of its own – can end up dying as a result. Our perspective is, this is part of our work, we accept it as we have little in the way of being able to dissuade an owner from the path they are on. Rescued With Love takes what it can, when it can. …

A few months ago we offered to take on Patrick from RSPCA Qld. Patrick, you see was covered in enormous tumours all over his rear and back legs. Patrick weighed 18 kgs, and for a small dog was in a lot of pain. It took three surgeries to remove the major tumours, one weighed over 1.5 kg alone. With the care of this foster Mum and Dad Michelle and Matt, Patrick thrived and is now able to walk around the block. He will, due to RWL, have a chance at a long and happy life. That is the value of what Rescue Charities can do. When a shelter has a medical issue dog, working with rescue groups means the dog can have surgery and recover in a home. It is a vital part of our community’s expectations. And we are happy to fulfil it.  

The best thing to explain what we do is our before and after photos. We’ve had dogs in care for months, sometimes years. This is due to the type of issues the dogs face when they come to us – and their specialist needs – often it is a case of basic vet work and then off to a happy home. RWL was designed for the elderly with medical issues – and it can take us longer to treat, stabilise and find the homes suitable for them.  We have done everything from removing tumours, to heart surgery. From removing eyes, to ear surgery. Whatever is needed, we will do it. One of the most exciting is restoring sight to dogs who are blind from cataracts. But the ones we love the most are the gentle sweet souls who are so brave with their issues – and show that they still want a good life.  And RWL will do our best to give them that.  

For some reason, one day, I thought our little schnauzer Ernie, might need a doggie mate. Onto the internet, and I fell onto a site called Dogzonline. There it had breeders of everything, and a section called Rescue. The day I clicked on that, was the day our lives changed. I started to read a story about a dog in Canberra, a cute little old Maltese – who had been thrown over the fence at the Canberra Pound. He was microchipped and his name was “Bludger”. The name upset me so much – that his family thought that of him. His owner, a woman had been contacted and she said she would come and collect him. Being microchipped he would be held for 14 days. Every day I checked on the site, and every day he was still there. There wasn’t much noise from Rescue about taking him on, he was older and needed a dental, his mouth was really bad. On day 11 I read a post by a Rescuer about Bludger. He had died overnight in the pen, probably due to the infection in his mouth. That little dog called Bludger, unwanted by his family, died in pain, …