“This event started 10 years ago with around 20 stalls and four rescue homes. After 10 years it became a national event with around 300 stalls and 50 rescue homes participating.”
Not just cats and dogs need a second chance. Many rescues are struggling to keep up with demand as costs soar.
“Some people are terminally ill and have to find a new home for their donkey,” said Pauline Sainsbury, who runs the Mamaku Donkey Rehoming Centre and Sanctuary. “Sometimes people want to sell up and go to retirement homes. Other times they’ve outgrown their donkeys so we’ve got to find a good home to put them in.”
Pauline said many people were downsizing because of the rising cost of living.
“It’s getting tough out there. Costs are going up. Veterinary bills, farrier bills, food bills, hay, medication… Some people just can’t cope so they need to give up their donkeys.”
Pauline hoped community events such as Rescues Palooza would raise awareness and educate the public.
“We need support from the communities, we’re looking for more sponsors that will help us keep doing what we’re doing and take care of the donkeys that cannot be rehomed.”
Free as a Birdhas been caring for battery chickens since 2014.
Owner Kelly Phelps said: “They call them ‘end of lay’, it’s the end of their commercial life which is where they start dropping their feathers.”
“It takes six to eight weeks to grow their feathers back. In that time they lose their production, stop laying eggs and aren’t useful to a farmer anymore.”
But Kelly is rehoming fewer birds and the food bills are growing.
“Our feed bill alone has gone up $300 to $400 a month, which means it [is] not as cost-effective as it used to be.”
Sharna Asplin runs Wild Whiskers Tauranga from her home in Pāpāmoa and said the number of wild cats they rescue rises each year.
“We focus on those that would normally fall through the cracks. True stray and wild, we call them wild but most other people would call them feral.”
“People feel like they’re entitled to have pets, and that is true, but at the same time you’ve got to be able to afford to look after them.
“There’s so many cats and kittens being given away for free, un-desexed and although they are loved they are escalating the problem of the strays and wilds that we have.
“That comes back to the cost of living and prices of desexing and things like that.”
Sharna said Rescues Palooza is the first event of its kind.
“There’s been nothing like this in my time working in rescues.
“It’ll be really exciting to get a whole lot of rescues together and educate the public about the issues that we’re facing.”
Rescues Palooza takes place at Gordon Spratt Reserve in Pāpāmoa on Saturday, December 10.
Online donations can be made here.
