Volunteer Fiona goes the extra mile for Taupō SPCA's animals

Taupō SPCA volunteer Fiona Holliday won the Going The Extra Mile award at the SPCA Purina National Volunteer Awards for her dedication. Photo / Supplied

She's a jack of all trades who will drop everything to help.

Whether it's taking a dog for a walk, cleaning out a cat cage, fostering a high-risk cat or taking home the washing to get it dry, no job is too big or small for dedicated Taupō SPCA volunteer Fiona Holliday.

The animal lover spends hours every week helping the animals at the SPCA Animal Centre, fosters cats and kittens in her homes, and takes the dogs out for socialising. She helps at fundraising events and even ropes in husband George to fix the centre's rabbit cages.

So Fiona deservedly won the Going The Extra Mile award at the SPCA Purina National Volunteer Awards from the thousands of SPCA volunteers nationally who donate their time and energy to looking after vulnerable animals.

Volunteer roles include everything from fundraising to fostering, working in op shops, socialising animals, cleaning cages, doing laundry and providing care and cuddles.

SPCA staff and volunteers nationwide nominated 143 of their most exceptional volunteers, who were then judged by a panel of Purina and SPCA staff to come up with six award winners, with Fiona one of them.

Fiona loves animals and says in an ideal world, she'd work in a zoo. She had volunteered at SPCA Hamilton and signed up with the Taupō SPCA after moving to the town two and a half years ago.

"During kitten season it's incredibly busy. I'm retired so I used to offer my services and say 'if you need me, call me'."

She usually works mostly with the cats, although she also walks dogs and developed a soft spot for the Taupō SPCA's longest stayer, dog Apollo, who was at the centre for a year before he was finally adopted by a loving couple who spotted his Adopt Me profile in the Taupō & Tūrangi Weekender.

"Apollo and I became great friends and I would take him in the car and take him to Two Mile Bay and we would walk for miles in the sunshine ... Apollo was wonderful, I don't know why he was passed by for so long."

As well as looking after cats at the SPCA Animal Centre, Fiona fosters cats and kittens and after two years of fostering she finally met Lacey, the cat she just couldn't hand back. Lacey had had a near-fatal car accident, but was nursed back to health in SPCA care and then stole not only Fiona's heart but also George's, even though he's not as crazy about cats as Fiona is.

"Out of all of [the foster cats], this one got to him and he loves her, absolutely loves her."

Fiona usually does three shifts a week at the Animal Centre but will also come in if other volunteers are away or if extra help is needed.

"I spend time with the cats, groom them, clean them out and cuddle them, change their bedding, make them comfy. Prospective [owners], I take them down and show them the cats and I do some fundraising at the Harcourts Hound Day selling dog jackets.

A cuddle with Wallace the cat. Fiona Holliday says she enjoys grooming the SPCA cats and making them happy. Photo / Laurilee McMichael

Fiona says she does it because she loves cats and loves grooming them and keeping them happy.

"They just need some TLC and I can give it to them. They have had such terrible starts, dumped in carparks, and they just don't deserve it. They deserve a lot of love and a good home."

During last year's Covid-19 lockdown Fiona was the only volunteer allowed at the centre, along with an SPCA staff member. Together they did all the care and cleaning for the 60 cats, six dogs, two horses and "a few rabbits" at the centre. They even managed to rehome 38 of the animals through contactless adoptions.

"It was an incredible effort," says Fiona of all the work involved.

"I came in in the mornings, fed and cleaned them out and then went home and came back in the afternoons and did the same thing, and on the weekends came and cleaned the centre and did all the laundry.

"People thought [the animals] all got put down, but under no circumstances do animals get put down here unless they're absolutely unsalvageable and it's heartbreaking - everybody here is affected by it."

Fiona says SPCA staff and volunteers all too regularly see animals who have been starved or abused.

"We've all shed tears over them, it's so sad."

While Fiona looks after the animals, George is also a volunteer, but at Lake Taupō Hospice, dropping off and collecting beds for patients and working in the Hospice Shop. Fiona says it's a great balance.

"He's for people and I'm for animals."