SPCA buoyed by $3k from auction

Fleur Harlick, manager SPCA Wairarapa Op Shop and her dog Jazz accept a donation from Andrew Bonallack, editor Wairarapa Times-Age.

The SPCA Op-Shop charity auction that took place last weekend raised nearly $3000, bringing the kitty to reintroduce an animal welfare inspectorate to Wairarapa to $15,000.

Matt Franklin, Royal New Zealand SPCA regional manager and administrator for SPCA Wairarapa, said $20,000 would be enough to provide limited services to the area for up to three months.

"The guys at the op shop are doing a fantastic job and the funds are increasing," Mr Franklin said.

"But people need to realise that we have a long way to go yet. We need to be able to keep it sustainable so the services are permanent.

"So obviously for that to happen we need a lot more money."

The auction was to sell items that had been stored in a shed that the Chapel St op shop had been leasing.

But since the shop had relocated to a bigger premises a few doors down the road they no longer needed the shed for storage space.

Shop manager Fleur Harlick said the money saved in the extra rent would help them get to their $20,000 goal sooner.

"We're trying to save as much money as possible to get things moving."

The auction ran for four hours and "pretty much everything" was sold.

"To continue to support animal welfare in Wairarapa we need some dedicated people to do some consistent fundraising and apply for grants," Ms Harlick said.

"People are definitely supporting the shop, which is great, but we need more people to focus solely on the fundraising side.

"Me and Ross would love to do it but running the shop is a full-time job," she said.