Animal rescues in Aotearoa play a vital role in safeguarding animal welfare and promoting responsible pet ownership.
One such group is All Paws Murupara, a non-profit organisation reliant on generous donations. Despite challenges posed by the growing number of animals in need, it also focuses on raising awareness about the importance of desexing, registering, and microchipping animals, emphasising that every life matters.
Galina Turisheva, the co-owner of All Paws Murupara, says they are inundated with animals that need help.
“The number of unwanted, dumped, neglected litters of pups and kittens is astronomical in the eastern Bay of Plenty. Registering, de-sexing, and microchipping your dog allows you to ensure their safety, prevent overpopulation, and aid in reuniting lost pets with their owners.”
Turisheva’s background in rescue organisations began in Dubai with Four Paws, a large organisation dedicated to animal welfare.
She says that moving to Murupara six years ago she quickly realised the need to help animals in distress, neglected animals, stray animals, especially hunting dogs that got lost and were abandoned.
“Coming from an animal rescue background, it was a no-brainer to start what we do best and, although it’s so difficult to look after one litter of pups or kittens, we have at the moment five lots of large litters of pups at approximately four to five weeks old."
She says although it is very difficult at times, the most important thing for the organisation is to help every life.
“We are just too small to accommodate that number of pups so we reach out to other rescues around New Zealand to help us out but to get those pups to the rescues is just another huge commitment, financially and timely, which we as I mentioned as a small trust, is very difficult”.
Tushivera emphasises the vital significance of educating people about desexing, registering, and microchipping animals.
She says this education impacts not only the animal population in Aotearoa but also the rescue organisations, as they strive under immense pressure to save every precious life they can, which in turn allows them to focus their resources on providing care and finding homes for existing animals in need.
“Some hunters don't believe that they should desex their animals because they think that animals will lose their instinct of prey but it is not scientifically proven and we try to educate our locals that it is a big myth.”
“Please de-sex your animals, please microchip your animals, please register them with Animal Companion New Zealand and council. It does make our jobs easier and it just avoids big litters of dumped pups”.
It is different for every council and every region, check out your local council websites. For the Bay of Plenty, you need to register your pups by the end of the month.