Native Animal Rescue News

Busy Bee & Members' Meeting

Native Animal Rescue will be conducting a combined Busy Bee and Members' Meeting on Saturday 4 September 2010. The Busy Bee will run between 9:00am to 4:00pm and will pause for the members' general meeting from 12:00noon to 2:00pm. If you can come, please contact the NAR office to let us know to assist us with catering. If you are not a member, you are welcome to sit in on the meeting. If you can bring fencing tools, wheelbarrows and shovels etc. that would be greatly appreciated. It will also be a great opportunity to see the new facilities under construction.

News

Lots of exciting things have been happening at Native Animal Rescue over the last few months.

NAR was one of three 'Community Spirit' finalists at the recent Malaga & Districts Business Association Business Exellence Awards. This is the first time NAR has entered the Awards and it was a thrill to be ranked as a finalist and be recognised by local businesses for our work in the community.

The Small Mammal Facility has been completed. The enclosure will initially be used for research into the impact of parasites on the decline of Woylie populations in WA and we expect the research project will be under way in November.

Lotterywest approved funding for the Black Cockatoo Facility in early July. Building approvals were finalised a couple of months ago, in anticipation of funding approval, and construction has already commenced. We thank Lotterywest, Fiona Stanley Hospital and David and Noellene Williams for their support for this project. To David and Noellene, who have been long time generious supporters of this project, FINALLY THE DREAM BECOMES REALITY.

A major power upgrade for our facilities has been completed. All our facilities are now serviced by underground power. A 25 line underground telephone cable was installed at the same time as the power supply to provide us with plenty of scope for future expansion. We express our thanks to Skyline Electrics, who have played a pivitol role in this project from the beginning. For the first time in ten years, we now have power to all our buildings.

We have also recently completed installation of an integrated computer and telephone system, which will provide for our requirements for the forseeable future. This has greatly assisted staff to handle the increased telephone activity created by increased public awareness from our TV and radio commercials and website. It also provides key personnel with external access to the computer systems, a major productivity improvement for an organisation so dependent on volunteers. Our thanks to Futuretek IT for their generous support in setting up this system and supporting all our email, internet and IT requirements.

The CCTV system is being extended to include the black cockatoo and small mammal facilities. Remote access to our CCTV system to assess any security alarms is also now possible.

The list of Supporting Vets keeps growing. We now have 30 vets supporting our work by providing a network of "safehouses" throughout the northern suburbs to which you can take injured and sick native animals. The list of Vets is regularly updated on the website, so if you find a native animal in need of care, check the website for the Vet closest to you. This partnership has proved so popular, that some Vets have contacted NAR asking to sign up before we have been able to approach them.

Have you seen Native Animal Rescue featuring on the Channel 10 News weather report with Michael Shultz? If not, keep an eye out, as it will be a regular event. It is a great way to promote the work of the centre and get some basic messages out to the community about care of our native animals. Michael does an excellent job and he and the Channel 10 crew are a pleasure to work with.

Did you know December is one of the busiest months of the year at Native Animal Rescue. Our peak period for animal admissions is September through to January. That means we are about to start getting busy again. Check out the Admissions Chart to the right showing the % of annual admissions by month, averaged for the years 2002-2009. If you are thinking about volunteering, now would be a good time to talk to us, before we gear up for the busy season.

Donations & Support

We have received an amazing number of donations from companies, individuals, trusts and deceased estates over the past 12 months. We thank all who have made donations for your generous support. It is planned to put some of this funding towards the construction of a dedicated waterbird facility.

The Geary Trust has committed to funding the salary for the Clinic Liaison Officer for the last two years and we express our gratitude to Ron and Glenys Geary and family for their generous and continuing support. We have received funding from the Ballajura-Malaga Rotary Club towards the operating costs of the Rescue Van, which is again greatly appreciated.

Members and Volunteers

Since the launch of our TV and Radio commercials in June 2009, we have had an amazing response with some 600 peeople either registering their interest in volunteering at Native Animal Rescue or applying for membership.

We totally depend on our dedicated members and volunteers who keep the centre operating every day of the year. To all our volunteers and members new and old we say a sincere THANK YOU.

If you have skills in website or electronic newsletter management and would be interested in volunteering those skills to NAR, we would love to hear from you. Check out our Volunteer Page for more information on volunteering.

Over the past few months we have seen a number of groups arrive at the Centre to provide support, including groups from Plan B, BHP Billiton, Westpac, WHK Horwath and the cadets from John Septimus Roe High School and we express our sincere thanks to all these groups for their help.

Students from Ballajura Community College have also visited NAR as part of a school project in which teams had to design promotional/fund raising projects for NAR. They came up with some very creative ideas and we are exploring putting some of them into action.

We have also had regular visits by Vet students from Murdoch University who regularly come to the centre as part of their 4th and 5th year rotations to provide them with hands on experience working with native animals.

We say farewell to the Detached Youth Work Project's Workskills Program which vacated their on-site workshop facilities at the end of June. They are integrating their program more closely with TAFE and will be establishing workshop facilities at the rear of their staff office in Balga. We thank them for their support and wish them well for the future in the very important work with at-risk young people within our community.

Members of Ellenbrook and Districts Men's Shed have continued to provide support to the centre undertaking valuable maintenance and construction work. Their assistance is much appreciated. We are discussing with Men's Shed the possibility of using the workshop vacated by the Workskills Program to cater for Men's Shed linked with a wider community based program on site.

Membership renewal forms for the new financial year will be in the post shortly. This year all financial members will be provided with a NAR Wildlife Emergency Kit. This kit is being developed by NAR to be carried in your car to assist you in rescuing injured wildlife. Further details about the kits will be included with membership renewal forms. People who are not members will be able to purchase the kits from NAR.