12:00a.m. 16th September 2007

| By Alan Lander

Sunshine Coast animal refuges have been hit by an unprecedented number of surrendered pets, leaving their precious resources all but exhausted.

Sunshine Coast Animal Refuge (SCARS) and 4Paws Animal Rescue have taken delivery of a staggering 34 dogs and cats in seven days – well above the usual weekly average of three to five animals.

The influx has left their resources so stretched they are calling for urgent assistance from potential foster carers while they try to re-house the animals in permanent homes.

And they are pleading for Coast residents not to buy a pet without careful consideration.

“It has been a horrific week,” 4Paws spokeswoman Julie Pennington said. “We have had all types of dogs and cats surrendered – even purebreds.

“The refuge has become choc-a-bloc. And it’s not just ‘the usual suspects’ (neglecting owners).”

A tell-tale sign for refuge workers was that most animals surrendered were dogs – cats can sometimes be sneaked into rental homes without the landlord or real estate knowing.

Ms Pennington said the rental crisis was “a huge issue”.

“Landlords won’t take pets. People are having to move and they have to give up their pet or they don’t have a house – but they’ve got kids, so what can they do?”

Typical of those being affected was Ron, a 59-year-old Vietnam veteran who has had to part with his sole companion of five years – Ding, a corgi-cross.

“The owners were selling (the home he rented),” said his friend Jennifer. “He has had to go into a retirement bed-sitter place. He will wait for something better but he’ll never get it and he’s too old for share accommodation.

“The Department of Housing has thousands on its list – and they don’t take dogs either.”

Jennifer said Ron was “very distressed”.

SCARS president Lucille Watson said the overall situation was “very serious”.

“Suddenly the number of requests for surrender of animals has gone sky-high,” she said.

“We can only assume the current rental crisis is leading people down this path.”

She said it was wrong to assume a pet would not suffer any ill effects from being dumped.

“We often wonder if people actually understand the trauma that any cat or dog experiences when they are surrendered.”

Ms Watson said while SCARS was aware of landlords who were friendly to tenants with pets, an increasing number were not.

But she argued that tenants with well cared-for pets were often the best tenants because they applied similar care to the rental property.

Heidi Bauer, a rental property manager with Ray White Real Estate, conceded that while a large number of landlords she dealt with were not against pets, many would rather not have them.

“We recommend they be negotiable but some owners are fussy,” she said. “If tenants are really good applicants, with a little dog, usually it’s okay.

“We ask prospective tenants to get a reference from a previous neighbour about whether the dog is noisy – if the references are good, we will push that.”

But Ms Bauer said about 98% of unit and townhouse body corporates did not allow dogs or cats.

Ms Watson has pleaded with Coast residents to consider their circumstances before taking on a dog or cat for a pet.

“It is a commitment for the length of the pet’s life,” she said.