Last night Wellington SPCA featured on TV1′s Close Up, after reporter Matty McLean visited our Newtown Centre last Thursday to film a story on the flow of animals into/out of our care.

You can view the video link at: www.tvnz.co.nz/close-up/businessman-brings-spca-dark-video-4889764

The purpose of this rally is to demonstrate to Wellington City Council that the greater Wellington public is firmly behind the proposal to ‘rehome’ Wellington SPCA to the old Fever Hospital site in Mt Victoria.

Wellington SPCA cannot begin the fit-out on the Fever Hospital site until Wellington City Council completes structural work on their building that they had previously agreed to do – but unfortunately they have not included these costs in their Draft Long Term Plan.

Wellington SPCA Chief Executive Iain Torrance says that the message behind the rally is a fun and positive one, and will help the Council make the right decision as to the future of Wellington SPCA and the historical site.

“We are keen to get as many people down to Civic Square as possible on the day, to show the Councillors that Wellingtonians believe in us and our move to Fever Hospital.”

“If you work in the city and are looking for something to do during your lunch time, then we’d love for you to come down and show your support.”

Camille Guzzwell from Classic Hits will be hosting the hour-long event, and the public will be encouraged to turn up to Civic Square and hold up a cut-out sign of a cat or dog – with the end result being a ‘sea’ of abandoned animals that all need to be moved to a new home.

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and the Councillors for Wellington City Council will also be invited to attend the rally and speak to the assembled crowd.¬

Iain says that the support displayed by the community to date is proof that everyday people can effect positive change, as long as they’re willing to act.

“Whether you turn up to the rally, sign our petition, or make a submission directly to the Council, your voice can make a difference to the future of Wellington SPCA.”

For more information please go to www.rehomespca.org.nz

Reporting to the Customer Service Team Leader, this newly established role will primarily focus on ensuring that all clients and customers of Wellington SPCA Veterinary Clinic receive courteous and effective service. The veterinary care team based at the Newtown Shelter provides for a wide range of animals, both in the care of the Wellington SPCA shelter and clients of Wellington SPCA vet clinic.

This rewarding role includes liaising with clients, Vet Nurses and the Veterinary Surgeon in regards to incoming animals requiring care, making appointments for the veterinary clinic, and cash handling / administration duties
The role will be 30 hours per week on a shared roster basis, and will include some weekend work.

Key requirements for this role:
• Excellent personal communication skills, both face-to-face and on the telephone.
• Previous experience at a veterinary clinic or experience dealing with small animals, especially cats and dogs.
• Ability to deal with stressful situations in a reasonable and diplomatic manner.
• Ability to relate to people from a range of socio-economic and ethnic groups with tact & diplomacy.
• Ability to show sympathy and kindness to clients in difficult circumstances.
• Empathy towards animals and an understanding that the animals come first at Wellington SPCA.
• Training to be a Vet Nurse is preferred but not essential.

For a position description, please email rosa@wellingtonspca.org.nz

To apply for this vacancy please send your CV and a covering letter to rosa@wellingtonspca.org.nz or post to:
Customer Service Team Leader
Wellington SPCA
305 Mansfield Street
Newtown, Wellington 6021

Wellington SPCA urgently needs to move to a new facility  so we can continue delivering the services our community needs. The Fever Hospital on Alexandra Road (also known as the Old Chest Hospital and owned by Wellington City Council), a historically-rich Heritage building in the heart of Wellington, remains the preferred destination for us. The Council have stated that we are the preferred tenant and have voiced a desire to see us in the building as soon as possible.

The Fever Hospital site will provide a heritage home for a heritage community organisation.  It will convert a disused human hospital to an animal one with an educational focus.  Located in the centre of the capital it places us where we need to be; at the heart of the community.

Wellington City Council have existing obligations to complete a large amount of capital works on the building before we can commence our own construction work, and ongoing maintenance once the building is tenanted. Unfortunately the Council has decided it does not have the funds available to complete this work, nor is there funding budgeted for the next 10 years.

This creates several issues for the community; the building is not accessible by ratepayers, it is rapidly deteriorating due to increased vandalism, and the site is incurring increasing cost. It seems an immense waste to see a site of this significance going to ruin, while a sustainable tenant such as ourselves is anxious to take ownership and return this building to the community – where it belongs.

Your Voice can Make a Difference!!

The existing agreement to lease between Wellington SPCA and Wellington City Council calls on the latter to undertake the necessary capital works, and continue to provide ongoing facilities maintenance for the life of the lease.

We need the Council to make good on this agreement so we can breathe new life into the Fever Hospital and to give the animals in our community the best chance possible.

Public consultation on the Wellington City Council Draft Long Term Plan runs from the 16th April to 18th May 2012. This is your chance to have your say. Whether you sign our petition, make a submission to Wellington City Council via their website or contact the Councillors yourself, your support could make all the difference to us.

Please visit our website www.rehomespca.org.nz/support.htm or like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/RehomeSPCA to see the ways that your voice can help Wellington City Council to make the right decision.

We had a fantastic turn out for our Animal Crew School Holiday programmes. All of the children had a great time and learned heaps about the work of the SPCA and animals. It is such a pleasure to work with such energetic, enthusiastic and kind hearted children.

Our puppies had a tremendous amount of socialising and training with all the kids over the last two weeks. Rose, Tim, Anne, Julian and Georgia are super star obedience dogs and just need a bit of lead training. Cashew was a bit lazy and decided to lie down often in the middle of his walks and through the agility tunnel, but we still love him! We did a hard sell for our foster programme and none of the children left without knowing what the word de-sexing means and why it is so important. We even gained a couple of mature teen volunteers for Animal Crew. The kids loved making animal toys to donate back to all the rabbits, cats, kittens, puppies and dogs!

Thank you to all those that helped, especially our wonderful Animal Crew volunteers.

You’re invited to Wellington SPCA’s grand opening of the new Lower Hutt opshop this Saturday 21st April!

Come along to 6 Pretoria Street in Lower Hutt (next to Tony’s Tyre Service) from 10am to 4pm and be part of the festivities – there will be face-painting for the kids, in-store promotions and a special prize draw for customers. There will be plenty of animals on hand too, from the always-popular dog squad to a handful of cuddly kittens.

For Wellington SPCA, the new Lower Hutt opshop is not only a great way to generate much-needed funds towards helping animals in the SPCA’s care, but also a chance for the Lower Hutt public to learn more about us and the work we do in the community. Plans are underway for this opshop to also run regular adoption events, animal education programmes and fun animal activity days.

We are also requiring volunteers to work at this new opshop on a roster basis; it is highly rewarding and a chance to learn new skills and meet interesting people. Anyone is interested in volunteering at the store can email Leah on leahj@wellingtonspca.org.nz.

This is the third opshop to be opened by Wellington SPCA, following our first store in Mahara Place, Waikanae and another on Jackson Street in Petone that opened last October.

We look forward to seeing you at our Lower Hutt opshop grand opening this Saturday!

A huge thank you to everyone who came along to our inaugural ‘Paws with a Cause’ dog walk on Saturday 14th April!

Dog and their owners came from all over the region to be part of this fun event, which raised over $12,000 towards the care of abused, abandoned and neglected animals in Wellington SPCA’s care. Over 400 people and 250 dogs (of all shapes and sizes) attended on the day, with prizes handed out for dog & owner look-a-like, prettiest pooch and tallest/smallest pooch.

Thank you so much to everyone who made this event possible, including all the participants, volunteers and onlookers.
A special thanks to our event sponsors Animates, Canon, Hill’s Science Diet, Homelands, Otis & Louie, Pet Angels and Pet-n-Sur.

If you were at the event with your pet then you’ll want to check out the website for Jo Moore Photographer, who was there on the day taking some stunning photos. These images are available to purchase from www.jomoorephotographer.co.nz now – there are three galleries to view under the Gallery / Event Photography tab, including: ‘Paws with a Cause’  , ‘On the Walk’ and ‘More Doggy portraits’

Thanks again and we hope to see you at the 2013 ‘Paws with a Cause’ dog walk!

This Friday 13th April, Wellington SPCA is spreading the word that black cats & kittens are good luck!

Our aim is to adopt as many cats and kittens from the overflowing Newtown and Kapiti centres as we can, so we’ll be offering some great incentives to help felines (of all ages and colours) find a loving home with a new family.

• ‘Black Cat Friday’ kicks off on April 13th with a special adoption event at The Body Shop® on Lambton Quay, featuring a dozen cute kittens that you can cuddle, play with and maybe even take home with you!  This will run from 12-2pm, and each feline adopted out on the day also comes with an amazing ‘Black Cat Starter Kit’ to help them settle into their new home.
• ‘Black Cat’ adoption days will also be held at the Wellington SPCA Newtown & Kapiti centres on the Friday and throughout the weekend, with ‘Black Cat Starter Kits’ again on offer.
• Also over the weekend we will be running our popular off-site adoptions – Wadestown Church/ St Luke’s church 1-4pm on Saturday, and the Brooklyn Community Centre 1-4pm Sunday.

This is a great chance for you to find a loving feline to be part of your family, so we hope to see you at one (or all) of these events!

Can you think of a better way for your young animals lover to spend part of their school holidays than making friends, playing outrageous games, and hanging out and helping some amazing animals? At Wellington SPCA’s school holiday programmes kids can do all of these things. Kids will learn how to train, care for, and be a responsible animal guardian, along with how to make your community a safer place for our pets. But kids are not the only ones who will have fun…we will also be spending a lot of time with our centre animals.

We are looking for kids who want to build on their love for furry friends by learning how to provide a lifetime of love and care for companion animals. Our Animal Crew programmes are designed to promote kindness and compassion for all animals. Our school Holiday Programmes combine animal care and behaviour learning activities, team projects, craft activities, and hands-on interactions with animals such as cats, kittens, dogs, rabbits, and more!

Programmes:

SPCA Adventure (All SPCA Animals great and small)
When: Wednesday, 11 April 2012; 2pm to 5pm
Cost: $35 – Afternoon tea provided

Animal Camp for Teens
When: Friday, 13 April 2012; 9pm to 4pm
Cost: $70 – Please pack a lunch; Morning and Afternoon tea provided

Crazy Cats
When; Monday 16 April 2012 from 9am to 12pm
Cost: $35 – Morning tea provided

Dedicated to Dogs **ONLY 4 SPACES LEFT**
When: Wednesday, 18 April 2012; 9am to 12pm
Cost: $35 – Morning tea provided

Animal Camp
When: Friday, 20 April 2012; 9pm to 4pm
Cost: $70 – Please pack a lunch; Morning and Afternoon tea provided

To make a booking please complete this online registration form. We also have some exciting animal nights planned for April. For more information or to register follow this link.

Hope to see you there!

Wellington SPCA are proud to announce the launch of Paws With A Cause Dog Walk, which we’re hoping to make an annual event. The walk around Wellington’s Waterfront will take place on Saturday 14^th April 2012.

Register today to make sure you don’t miss out on taking part in this fun event!  All money raised will help abused, abandoned and neglected animals in our community.

Registration entitles you to a goodie bag of treats, and there will be some amazing prizes up for grabs on the day too!

Details: 10:00am Saturday 14^th April 2012, starting from Waitangi Park. Be there from 9:00am to collect your goodie bag and to be in to win prizes!

Go to www.pawswithacause.org.nz to register today.

Please help us keep administrative costs down by registering via the website.  Depending on the number of participants we cannot guarantee on-the-day registrations.