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Respiratory masks for local Fire Brigades

By Ashley CHRYSLER

SYDNEY Mother and cancer survivor, Ophelia Haragli, has raised more than $600,000 to purchase special respiratory masks for local fire services across Australia, including the Myall Coast’s Medowie and Bulahdelah Rural Fire Brigades. “So far I’ve been able to distribute more than 5,000 respiratory masks to those in need in NSW alone,” Ms Haragli said. “I put a post up on Facebook for people to get in contact with their local Brigade to see if they were interested in receiving respiratory masks and the response was huge, with Captains and even family members of

Permits for non-desexed cats

MIDCOAST Council has welcomed the news that the NSW Government is introducing annual permits for non-desexed cats and restricted dangerous dogs, as a way of encouraging responsible pet ownership.

From, Wednesday 1 July, owners of cats that are not desexed by four months of age will be required to pay an $80 annual permit, in addition to their one-off lifetime pet registration fee.

Annual permits for non-desexed cats will create a stronger incentive to desex cats, which will in turn improve their health and wellbeing, including reducing the risk of some cancers.

Improving desexing rates will also lower demand on pounds and shelters, reduce euthanasia rates and help to address concerns about feral, stray and roaming cats and their impact on local wildlife.

“This is great news from our perspective because anything that promotes responsible pet ownership means less animals in the pound and more information is available to us about the pets in our area,” said Bruce Moore, MidCoast Council’s Manager of Development Assessment.

Similarly from 1 July, owners of dogs of a restricted breed or formally declared to be dangerous will also be required to pay a $195 annual permit in addition to their one-off lifetime pet registration fee.

“We hope this will serve as a further disincentive to owning high-risk dogs and encourage owners to better manage the behaviour of their animal,” added Bruce.

“We see too many dog attacks in our region, with a serious attack happening only last week so this is more positive news to help us try and bring this number down.”

From today, local pet owners will be able to pay for annual permits using the NSW Pet Registry website or through MidCoast Council.

Anyone registering a cat on the NSW Pet Registry will be informed that they must pay for an $80 annual permit if their animal is not desexed by four months of age.

Annual permit fees will go directly to the Companion Animals Fund which pays for companion animal management by local Councils including pounds/shelters, ranger services, dog recreation areas, and education and awareness programs.

The fund is also used to operate the NSW Pet Registry and carry out responsible pet ownership initiatives.

For further information about these permits, visit www.olg.nsw.gov.au and search ‘pet ownership’.

Thursday, 9 July, 2020

firefigters messaging me for help.” As a breast cancer survivor, Ms Haragli was shocked to learn how difficult it was to actually use the traditional P2 masks, and how ineffectively it protected firefighters. “I started doing my own research on the impacts of bushfire smoke and saw that it can cause cancer so that was right up my alley,” she said. “Fighting fires has mostly been done using P2 masks, so many of the firefighters I’ve spoken with didn’t even know about these types of respiratory masks.” The Bulahdelah Rural Fire Brigade were chuffed to receive a batch of masks, hand delivered by Ms Haragli herself, and posted on Facebook, “This afternoon the Brigade was privileged to receive a gift of 23 respiratory masks worth in excess of $2,000 from a wonderful lady named Ophelia from My Sisters Keeper.” “We truly appreciate this gift.” Ms Haragli has delivered nearly 75 masks to Medowie and Bulahdelah Rural Fire Brigades, and hopes that the RFS, who is now conducting their own review of P2 respiratory masks, will be able to continue the work that she has been doing.

q Bulahdelah Rural Fire Brigade receiving their donation from Ophelia Haragli

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