KELMSCOTT now has a brand new spot in which to snag a bargain and help four-legged friends at the same time.
Armadale Community Animal Rescue Group (ACARG) has a brand new op-shop to fill, two doors down from its existing store on Gillam Drive.
The new shop will dedicate its funds to helping elderly, disabled and people otherwise suffering hardship to desex and microchip their furry friends, from cats and dogs to rabbits.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWACARG president Christine Yurovich said the shop was modelled after a similar store in Rockingham, with that store experiencing great success and helping 42 clients over the last two-and-a-half months.
“The first month we operate, we’ll be just getting going, but we already have people lined up for the second to get their pets desexed and microchipped,” Ms Yurovich said.
“The word’s getting out already.
“A lot of people don’t realise how much it costs to desex an animal and go through the vaccinations. You’d be looking at $260, $300 for a cat, but a dog, you’re talking up to $600 sometimes. And it shouldn’t disqualify pensioners who need it as a companion, disabled people who also need them as companions and assistants, and then people with mental health issues.”
Ms Yurovich said the Rockingham outfit’s effect was clear, with locals able to move in to new accommodation once their pets complied with the law, and one family helped after tragedy struck.
“(One woman’s) husband was killed six weeks ago,” Ms Yurovich said.
“She’s got three children and each one of them was given a gift of a kitten. But they’re now older and she was going to get them desexed. She thought she might have to give them all up because there’s no income, no money. We had the cats desexed and microchipped, so the three girls all got their kittens back.”
Shop manager Diane Yamaguchi said the initiative would help get pets off the street.
“At the end of the day, it’s really good because it’s stopping that cycle,” Ms Yamaguchi said.
“There’s no more dumping of the cats because they’ve had kittens, where they get rid of the mother, get rid of the kittens, and then they’re all breeding”.
The new ACARG op shop opens at 9am on Saturday, July 29, with potential volunteers encouraged to pick up an information form from the existing shop.
MORE: Man receives cut in terrifying armed robbery
MORE: CycleWest sees Wungong as ideal location to extend WA’s mountain bike infrastructure