Local Hero: Give a Dog a Home

Give a dog a home

The hard-working vollies at the Dog’s Refuge Home in Shenton Park work to place the adorable pooches with their forever homes. Di Bortoletto meets one such local hero - Jill Munyard.

ubiaco resident Jill Munyard has been volunteering at the Dog’s Refuge Home in Shenton Park for the past 12 years.

The Dogs’ Refuge Home opened in 1935 and is WA’s largest shelter and re-homing centre for dogs, caring for lost, surrendered, abandoned, and mistreated animals. The registered charity, pound and adoption centre prides itself on providing the best possible care and enrichment for dogs as new forever homes are found.

Jill’s role is in the adoption rehoming team where she carefully matches dogs with their new owners. I met her at the Dog’s Home Refuge and she offered to show me around.

“We are very fussy about where dogs go, it has to be the right fit for both the dog and the owners and their lifestyle,” says Jill.

As we walk along the kennels, Jill greets the dogs like old friends.

“Hello beautiful boy!” she says to Angus, a large mixed breed with short white fur, his tail wagging as Jill coos to him through the wire fence.

“It’s just awful if dogs are returned, so we try to get the right match so that doesn’t happen.”

We pass a few volunteers who all stop and greet Jill, some with excited dogs on leads who are ready for their daily exercise. There are a several big fenced off grassy areas a short walk from the kennels where the dogs are taken, usually one at a time, and let off the lead to have a run around and play for an hour each day.

Jill, who is almost 70, began volunteering after losing her beloved pure-bred black poodle Gizmo who lived to the ripe old age of 17-and-ahalf years.

“I started coming to the Dog’s Home for doggie fix and started walking the dogs, then I started spending time in the office, helping answer the phones, that sort of thing,” Jill says.

“I began managing adoptions about six years ago and I love that. I love meeting people, and I really love working with the team here, they are all such lovely people.”

Perth’s oldest animal charity cares for about 1,200 dogs and puppies rescued and rehomed each year and houses about 70 dogs at any one time, including dogs in quarantine.

The Dogs’ Refuge Home motto is “rescue is the best breed”, and it’s a registered charity that is almost entirely self-funded and relies on community support to fund its operations. The Refuge has a pro-life policy and does not euthanase any healthy, re-homable animal in its care.

Karen Rhodes, President of the Shenton Park refuge, says the Home is desperate to find foster carers for homeless hounds.

“We are calling for people who have some experience with dogs and would like to become a temporary foster carer to come forward,” Karen says.

“Perhaps these people may be retired and do not want the 17-year commitment that a new puppy involves but would still like the

How can you resist?

Why not adopt one of these pooches?

Klyde:

At Dog’s Refuge Home since: 22nd August 2020 Status: Available for adoption, in foster A little about Kylde: Klyde is a very handsome boy who is hoping that his next home is the pawfect fur-ever home for him. He has had some difficulties with reactivity in the past but with an appropriate lifestyle and efforts from his people, this can be managed and improvement will be achieved in time. Klyde is very eager to please his humans, loves to engage in playtime and is quite responsive when tasty treats are on offer. This boy is very deserving of finding his permanent home and will no doubt prove a loving member of the family. Marley:

At Dog’s Refuge Home since: 26th November 2020 Status: Available for adoption, in foster A little about Marley: Marley is a handsome young pooch who is excited about finding his new family. He needs a commitment to continuing his training; his foster carers have been putting in a lot of work with him as he is now crate trained, showing a drastic improvement in his house manners and is also muzzle trained. His dog sociability is lacking unfortunately but he can be managed safely and he is slowly but surely making progress in this area. Marley’s strong point is the love he has towards his humans, he is super eager to please, loves playtime and getting all the attention. Marley is a very clever boy and with the right people will make an amazing family member.

How you can help

Besides becoming a foster carer or volunteer, another way to support the Dog’s Refuge Home is to get involved in some of their fundraising events.

Home Open 23 and 24 October, 10am to 2.30pm Home Open is a well-known mega jumble sale where you can expect to find preloved books, homeware, kitchenware, rare finds, CDs, sporting equipment, games and clothes. On top of that, there’s a sausage sizzle (with vegan options), cake stall, baristamade coffee, plant stall, City Farmers dog wash, kids’ corner, live music, dog merchandise and more. Dog-friendly dogs welcome and entry is by gold coin donation. Please get in touch beforehand if you have any goods you’d like to donate.

Santa Paws and In the Dog House Sunday 5 December It’s Santa Paws! Bring your dog to the refuge for a photo with Santa. A volunteer dresses as the big red man and your beloved fur baby can get their Christmas photo thanks to the generosity of photographer Alex Cearns of Houndstooth Studios donating time. There’s also a mini-market jumble sale that includes Christmas decorations.

They’re not in trouble but they are still going to the dog house. On the same day as Santa Paws, ‘In the Dog House’ is a fundraising event where people sit in a kennel with a dog for a day and raise money through sponsorship.

companionship of a dog, or perhaps they are dog lovers who already have a pooch but would love to help another dog in need.”

Dogs that need fostering may be older or may need ongoing veterinary treatment which would be better administered in a home environment. All veterinary costs are covered by the refuge.

“We are also looking to foster out a number of dogs that are stressed in the kennel environment and need the special TLC that a foster carer would be able to provide,” adds Karen.

The Home will meet all food and veterinary expenses required by the foster dog.

For further details, visit the dogshome.org.au.

Dog’s Refuge Home is open to the public seven days per week from 11am to 4pm, 30 Lemmos Street, Shenton Park. Tel: 08 9381 8166.

VERY GOOD BOYS Shenton Dog's Refuge Home holds several fund-raising efforts throughout the year, including Santa Paws photo opps at Christmas and Home Open's jumble sale.

Be 73% more eco-friendly* with 0% extra stress

with DuoGlass double glazed windows and doors. Feel the difference today.

NOISE REDUCTION

ADDED SECURITY

HP DUO GLASS/ TRILOGY

SAVE ON ENERGY SAVE ON BILLS

Based on heat loss calculations assessing single vs double gazing. Source: yourhome.gov.au

PRICE MATCH

SHOWROOM LOCATIONS Claremont 248 Stirling Hwy Jandakot 622 Karel Ave Joondalup 52 Winton Rd Midland 142 Great Eastern Hwy Osborne Park 23 Ruse St Contact us today duoglass.com.au