Three CAPS dogs are trying out their forever homes after a successful adoption day event in Weipa on 28 July. Photo: Supplied.
Three dogs are trialling their forever homes after a successful adoption day event at the Cape Animal Protection Shelter (CAPS) in Weipa on 28 July.
After a series of not-so-hopeful results at past adoption day events, CAPS vice-president Rebecca Roberts said the team had ramped up marketing efforts this year.
“This is the first time we’ve had this much success during an adoption day,” she said.
“We have done them in previous years, but they haven’t been as successful, so we’ve started upping our marketing, and we got so many people down this time.
“It was wonderful to see we had over 30 people come down, and we had three dogs go out to new homes on trial.”
On the day, community members had the chance to see how the furry friends might fit into their lives.
“We did have a lot of families come and pick a dog and take it for a walk,” Ms Roberts said.
“We had a lot of people come down and bring their dogs, so they could see them interact with their dogs on site, and we also had foster carers bring their dogs down to interact with others as well.
“We did have some sign up straight away, but there were a lot of families who sort of had picked a dog and taken them for a walk, and we’re hoping to hear from them.”
CAPS is based in Weipa, but helps all surrounding western Cape York areas, including Mapoon, Aurukun and Napranum, and also collaborates with rescues in Cairns.
Ms Roberts said CAPS currently had about 45 dogs and cats in its care, although only 18 resided at the facility, with the rest in foster care.
Aside from adoption, the vice-president said the event also attracted several new volunteers to the organisation.
With lack of volunteers being one of the reasons for unsuccessful adoption days in the past, Ms Roberts said this was a welcome outcome.
“A lot of our committee and volunteers obviously work full-time jobs, so getting the time to do things like [the adoption day] can be challenging,” she explained.
“We had quite a few people sign up to volunteer on the day, which was really good.
“Having a day like this allowed people to come down in groups, and see what the facility is like and learn what it is, because it can be a bit intimidating coming down on your own.”
Ms Roberts encouraged more members of the community to get involved throughout the year.
The event also featured the Weipa Mobile Pet Wash, where $10 per wash was donated to CAPS, and a sold out breakfast barbecue, with all profits returned back to help the animals in care.
“The challenges we face are mainly to do with funding; we’re not funded by any specific entity, so we don’t get a constant cash flow from anyone,” Ms Roberts said.
“We’re currently working on funding new exercise yards for our facility and kennel upgrades as well.
“Our goal is making a better life for the dogs in there, because they are in captivity basically the whole time, and we need to be able to get them out to run around.
“Whatever we can do to make the lives of our dogs in care a little bit brighter, we strive to get it done.”
CAPS is located at 20 Kerr Point Drive at Evans Landing, and is open from 8:30-9:30am and 4:30pm-5:30pm every day.
