Floriade Dogs Day Out 2014

By Elysia Roberts

Today has seen hundreds of pooches from playful puppies  to lifelong companions to enjoy a beautiful day out in the sun amongst the flowers at Floriade 2014 to raise money for RSPCA ACT.

“Randy and Dom are very active and playful and are absolutely loving making so many new friends today,” said one owner of English Bulldog siblings ‘Randy’ and ‘Dom’.

See the  TOP TEN DOGS of DOGS DAY OUT 2014

It is the first time  in 15 years that Floriade has opened its gates to celebrate RSPCA ACT’s Dogs Day Out.

Money raised today will go toward RSPCA ACT’s vet services, re-homing programs, education programs, pet comfort and to fight animal cruelty.

RSPCA ACT CEO Tammy Ven Dange encourages families to consider adopting first when making the decision to a pet into their homes.

“It’s not a fundraising event for us its more of a community engagement opportunity, and since not everyone comes out to our shelter in Weston it is just a great opportunity to meet people in the pubic, answer questions they might have hopefully re-direct them back here because of some of the things we said.”

The RSPCA marquee offers a pet quiz where people who are considering welcoming a pet into their home can answer a series of 10 questions which will tell them what animal suits their lifestyle.

RSPCA volunteers are on hand to answer any questions the people may have about adopting a pet and giving out brochures and fact sheets on adopting.

Choosing a family pet: Adopt over shop

Tammy Ven Dange discusses the challenges faced by the RSPCA ACT.

Why did RSPCA choose this year to be a charity partner for Floriade?

I think it was the perfect year to do it because this year the theme is passion and people are passionate about their pets, so for us it made sense that out of all of the years to apply to be the charity partner, which we had to do, that this was the year to do it. And it’s worked really well because I don’t think the Dogs Day Out would have happened having not been the charity partner.

How will the RSPCA be encouraging the public to adopt from the shelter at the Dogs Day Out?

We plan to have a few shelter dogs there. I hope we will have our ‘adopt me’ coats ready. We are hoping that they will follow us right back to the shelter and be like I want to meet that one! We have pictures of some of the animals that are up for adoption with information about them in the marquee and a pet quiz which basically says, well based on your lifestyle you should get this animal and if you want to you can then hit a button and access all of the animals we have in that category here at the shelter.

How many dogs do you have at the shelter on average at one time and are enough being adopted?

At any give time we can look after about 70 dogs or so, that’s with puppies. We are out of capacity right now, and it’s so hard for us because we will hold on to the animal for as long as we can, like we won’t put it down just because of space issues. But it doesn’t mean that every dog, especially dogs, can live in a shelter environment for a long time, you know it’s stressful for them.

Obviously not enough people are adopting from the shelter, what does this mean for the RSPCA?

We end up having to put down dogs sometimes because they have been here too long, not because of space but because they mentally can’t cope and they are not dealing very well.

It’s frustrating for me that we can’t adopt the dogs out faster. And we are currently trying to figure out ways to do that. Certainly events like the Dog’s Day Out where we can share with the public all of these amazing animals that we have in our care is fantastic.

What would you say to people who are attending the Dog’s Day Out and are considering welcoming a dog into their family?

Rather than shop, adopt! These animals are amazing, I mean if they weren’t we wouldn’t put them up for adoption. We go through assessments, the ones we do put up for adoption, they are absolutely beautiful animals, and they are just looking for a home.