Pets

Wyreema State School is lucky enough to have access to its own Story Dog, Lady, on a weekly basis and the students love reading to her. Lady is directly sponsored by the Toowoomba West Lions Club but the program itself is run by the charity, Story Dog Australia, which covers the training and insurance of the dog.

Robert Johnston’s dogs wait for their master’s call – all 20 of them. Every afternoon, Robert would take the dogs on a run across the paddocks of his Tatham property. He’d be on the quad bike and the dogs would run behind, tongues hanging out as they followed their master ... The dogs are waiting for their run. Waiting for Robert. There’s no way to tell them he isn’t coming.

Dog owners are being cautioned to keep an eye on their animals this spring to ensure a simple frolic does not end with a trip to the veterinarian. Charles Sturt University academics are leading the country in research that could provide widespread benefits for dog owners and veterinarians across the globe.

Patricia Gill. The Shire of Denmark is reviewing local laws concerning the keeping of cats with a limit of two animals older-than-six months per household being considered in an effort to curb the feral population. The Shire will also have more power to restrict the movement of cats and those that cause a nuisance ... consultation is underway on the proposed rules which the Denmark Shire Council will likely consider in September.

Kate Foran. It is such a privilege working in the vet industry! You get the chance to get up close with so many gorgeous creatures; mostly companion pets, but occasionally with some of the spectacular wildlife that lives in our Barkly region as well. This week was extra special, we received a visit from a stunning reptile! A local ranger brought in a juvenile Spencer’s Goanna to us.

Horses are in Ruth Pattie’s blood and her love for equines has blossomed into a full time, not-for-profit sanctuary. Along with her husband Marty and their six daughters, Mrs Pattie runs the Helenvale Horse Sanctuary and Therapeutic Centre at their property near Kalkajaka National Park, half an hour from Cooktown ... The sanctuary currently has 14 horses, most of them elderly, who found their way from all over Far North Queensland.

Kate Foran. Next Friday is the annual Territory Day celebrations, a rare day on which Territorians can indulge their love of fireworks, as residents are still allowed to purchase fireworks to set off themselves. It is a heap of fun and much loved by many. There is a down side, however.  

A most unusual “sporting” event was held at the Coleambally Football/Netball Club recently when the club hosted a successful inaugural ferret race meeting. Seymour man Martin White from Whitey’s Ferret Racing Club provided the competing animals.

In an ambitious endeavour, a group of Central Victorian residents have come together to establish a Regional Community Vet Clinic (RCVC). The goal of this clinic is to support people who are experiencing dire financial situations to care for their companion animals, to run neutering programs and to support and promote the value of companion animals in the community.

Kate Foran. Alana Drury has been with us at Barkly Vet for four weeks, and sadly she leaves this weekend. I decided to interview her about her time here. Alana comes from Central West, NSW where she grew up on a 25 acre hobby farm ... She learned how quickly you become a part of the community, given that there’s no easy way to duck ‘back home’ for the weekend, or even on to the next town for dinner, like rural life in other parts of Australia.

Kate Foran. It was a terrific team effort. Together they visited Ali Curung, Ampilatwatja, Alpurrurulam, Elliott, Epenarra, Murray Downs and Mungkarta. More than a hundred dogs were desexed ... Two emu chicks were treated for injuries and bandaged ...

Prong collars and other inhumane practices would be banned as part of the biggest reforms of animal welfare laws in Queensland in more than 20 years. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the Palaszczuk Government is delivering on an election commitment to review the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001.

The founding members of Regional Community Vet Clinic (RCVC), Dr Yvette Berkeley, Robyn Slattery and James Mack, were delighted to receive official confirmation from State Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards, on the success of their grant application ... RCVC, as a Not-for-Profit community veterinary clinic, will support the elderly, socially and financially disadvantaged in our community, by providing them with access to affordable preventative veterinary care for their companion animals. This will enable the most vulnerable to continue to live in their own homes with their pets.

Kate Foran. If you’ve stepped inside Barkly Vet Practice the last few weeks and found the clinic chillier than normal, we’ve been accommodating our visiting Scottish vet, Bill McCance! ... It’s a rare insight into your own region, looking through the eyes of a visitor from afar.

Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch believes he will be able to soon cut the ribbon to open the CAPS animal welfare facility after discussions about the centre were fast-tracked. Last week’s Cape York Weekly was the most read edition since publishing began and the front page story about the future of the $2 million facility generated plenty of discussion in the community.

Described as a palace for the cats and dogs of Weipa, this multi-million dollar vet clinic and animal welfare centre was meant to be a game-changer for Cape York. However, it sits unfinished and unoccupied. Matt Nicholls looks at what the problem is and what the future looks like for this purpose-built facility

Alesha Millard. Nicole and Laurie Ryan and their two teenage daughters, Elly and Molly, are now enjoying freedom on the road in a fully restored bus ... Maybe the Ryans will inspire you to step out of your comfort zone and make some new adventures this year ... As someone recently said, “It’s like a whole community of travelling families out there!”

Tarrengower Prison is celebrating the rehabilitation of its 500th foster greyhound, ‘Boston’, who was trained through the Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP), which is designed to give four-legged companions and prisoners a new lease on life.

There have been increased reports of stable flies in the Shire of Gingin and other areas due to unseasonably wet conditions over winter and spring that enabled larval developmental sites to stay active for longer. Stable fly is primarily a pest of livestock, especially cattle and horses but it also affects humans, dogs and other animal pets.

Erin Mooney-Smith will serve your dog a puppiccino while you have a drink at the Commercial Hotel in Casino ... When publican Marnie Macdonald posted on Facebook that dogs on leads were welcome in the beer garden of the pub, someone asked about puppiccinos for the pooches.

A specialist CFA brigade has been called out to two incidents within a week, both involving the rescue of a dog from a mine shaft. Bendigo-based Oscar1 Brigade helped rescue Bruno the Bull-Arab on Sunday 5 December after he’d fallen down a mine shaft at Castlemaine Diggings National Park. Captain Daniel McMahon said it was quite unusual and surprising to receive another call less than six days later, this time to rescue Terry the Kelpie-cross from a mine shaft at Woodend.

The new dog-friendly loop trail of the Harewood State Forest on Scotsdale Road, Denmark is finished ... The project was awarded to Monkey Rock MTB Co, a new trail building company in Denmark. Monkey Rock has specialised in building mountain bike trails and this was their first walk trail project.