The Carriage family get behind CAPS animals with a festive fundraising photoshoot with Santa. Photo: Supplied.
After a huge year of giving hope to homeless dogs and cats, Cape Animal Protection Shelter has prepared for a successful 2026 with a little help from Santa.
The Weipa animal shelter held its increasingly popular Santa Paws photoshoot in December, raising $500 to help cover the cost of vet bills, prevention and food.
The event raised almost $200 more than its first run in 2024, and CAPS president Shayna Reeves said there was capacity to raise even more in 2026.
“It was definitely bigger; we didn’t expect to have so much interest in 2024, so this time, we were prepared for that,” she said.
“However, we still had a lot of people who were on a waitlist because we were fully booked.
“We also had some feedback to say if we could do it earlier in December, because a lot of people go away, so that’s all things to take into account for next year, because it is quite a popular event.”
Ms Reeves said one of this year’s key priorities was to expand the facilities with extra exercise yards and indoor kennels for quarantine activities.
“Having those extra high-needs kennels would help us with some of those amputations, pregnant mums, and cases like that which do need to be a little bit more secluded and hands-on,” she said.
“A lot of those higher medical cases, being in a remote location, we’re just not equipped to facilitate.”
She said that in 2025 CAPS was able to strengthen partnerships with like-minded rescues across the country, increasing opportunities for animals to find their forever home outside of the Cape York region.
Last year 48 dogs and 14 cats were directly adopted through CAPS, while a further 32 were flown out to other rescues in Australia.
“Collaborating together creates a huge impact,” Ms Reeves said.
“When we are closer to those remote locations, if we get them to us, we can sort out the emergency vet here, and make sure they’re in a position to be transported to, say, Sydney or Brisbane to continue their journey for a better rehome.
“Obviously, even rescues in regional areas are feeling the wrath of high capacity, and a lot of that has to do with the housing crisis, so it doesn’t just impact us here, it impacts the rest of Australia, but they definitely help us where they can.”
She said that this year they hoped to increase the rehoming numbers by hosting more adoption day events throughout the year.
“Last year, we may have only done two actual adoption days, so we’re hoping to double that and maybe look at doing one every three months,” she said.
“I think it just promotes getting the dogs out of the shelter, and why we want them to be in homes for further rehabilitation.
“2025 was definitely a big year, and I’m thinking that 2026 is going to be even bigger.”
