Lauren Quigley has saved more than 80 animals in a year and a half through dedication and teamwork. Photo: Supplied.
After changing the lives of community animals through sheer dedication, Aurukun Shire Council is bidding farewell to one of its longest-serving animal management officers.
Since starting in the role a year and a half ago, Lauren Quigley completely revamped the rehoming system in community, reaching out to Cape Animal Protection Shelter (CAPS), Cairns Animal Rescue, Stray to Stay, and Remote Animal Assistance to collaborate in overcoming logistical challenges and rehome as many animals as possible.
The shelters worked together to find which ones had space to take in animals and find foster families across Far North Queensland, resulting in the rehoming of 88 animals, many of them stray, injured or unclaimed.
“I got in contact with Shayna (CAPS president Shayna Reeves), so she was my first support, and then bridged out when she couldn’t take them,” Ms Quigley said.
“There’s some beautiful stories, and Shayna sends me pictures of the dogs we have gotten out, and it just warms my heart; it makes everything that I do here worthwhile.”
When all else failed, Ms Quigley said she opened her own home to foster until they could be adopted.
“I’ve got a little pup here that I’ve been fostering for about a week and a half,” she said.
“People don’t realise when I clock off, I don’t really clock off; I’ve still got fosters at the pound, fosters at my house.”
Ms Reeves said Ms Quigley would be extremely missed on western Cape York.
“She’s put so many things in place in Aurukun – they now have a vet there every three months, they run desexing clinics, and they’ve got a significant more amount of their dogs microchipped and vaccinated,” she said.
“She also goes around the community and administers the three-monthly tick and flea prevention, so, as a whole, the dogs in Aurukun, when we’re getting them, are ultimately coming to us in a much better condition.
“When it comes to animal rescue, it’s not a one shelter battle; you’re not going to make a difference on your own, it hugely relies on working together.
“She’s going to be really missed, and I don’t think it will just be from us, I think it will be from the Aurukun council and from community – she’s really made a huge impact.”
