A key component of RSPCA South Australia's new Animal Care Campus will be the on-site downsizing of animal housing.
That might sound counter-intuitive - how will housing fewer animals be beneficial?
Similar to humans, the long-term institutionalisation of an animal can be detrimental to its health and well-being.
Reinventing the wheel - How the foster care model changed everything
Prolonged exposure to a loud and unfamiliar environment, with limited daily human contact, can cause an animal's sociability to deteriorate and increase their stress levels. When resources are stretched, dogs at RSPCA's current Lonsdale shelter may only receive 30 minutes of human interaction each day and be limited to 1 to 2 walks during working hours.
Animal behaviour experts have been working diligently to help mitigate stress within the design of the new Animal Care Campus, however even with the best animal care facilities in Australia, RSPCA still won't be able to offer a long-term housing solution. Developing a care model which best supports an animal's rehabilitation before they are ready to be adopted has been a challenge.
RSPCA South Australia began to remedy this issue three years ago with the development of its animal community care program. Community Animal Care Manager, Sarah Dudley, said the organisation needed to 'reinvent the wheel,' in order to fix the dilemma for animals needing long-term care.
"We want animals in the shelter for as few days as possible."
"Animals don't get adopted immediately," said Sarah.
"A large percentage will be in our care for weeks or for some months before they are ready to go out and find their forever homes.
"Time is always against our animals, with some having to wait for court cases to finalise, others undergoing rehabilitation and or behavioural assessments before they are finally ready to find a new home.
"And during kitten season, we will have an influx of neo-natal kittens coming into the shelter - we won't be able to adopt those out until they are old enough to be desexed."
Over the past several years, RSPCA South Australia has developed long-term housing alternatives by taking animals off-site and placing them in the homes of volunteer foster carers.
The community animal care model has dramatically limited the time animals reside inside the shelter at RSPCA Lonsdale.
"Being in a home environment is better for an animal's welfare and recovery. As soon as they are fostered out they are exposed to hours of human interaction and TLC, something we just don't have the time to provide to them at the shelter," said Sarah.
"The positive changes we see in the behaviour and general demeanour of animals after they've been in a loving foster home is all the proof we need that this is the best way to go."
Making the best temporary animal accommodation in Australia
RSPCA's Animal Care Campus Project Manager, Tim Charles says that recognition of the need to support the community care model has been heavily built into the design of the new campus.
"We anticipate that in the not too distant future, 60 to 70% of all the animals in our care will spend most of their time in foster ahead of being adopted," Tim said.
"The benefit of the community care model is that we don't have a ceiling for capacity. At Lonsdale, we have around 180 dog kennels we can use, at the new campus this number will be reduced to 64 - but our plan is to have many more places for dogs in foster homes."
While the on-site accommodation for dogs will be dramatically reduced, Tim explained that different areas of the Animal Care Campus have been designed for multipurpose accommodation.
"The scenario of mass seizures and surrenders of dogs, where we suddenly have to take in a large number in a single day, has been factored into the new design. For example, the new bird aviaries have been designed to accommodate dogs if need be."
"The foster centre will be smack bang in the middle of the campus. We wanted there to be equal time for all animals to be moved out for foster care and help ensure it's a streamlined process," said Tim.
Expansion is the only answer
This past financial year, RSPCA South Australia opened its doors to a record 9419 animals, a figure which is predicted to increase over the coming years.
Sarah attributed RSPCA's animal increase to a growing intake of stray and surrendered animals.
"There's only one real solution, our foster care program will need to grow to meet the increased demand for animal care," she said.
"We will be aiming to get 5500-6000 animals in foster, which is a huge increase again, and we will be putting the resources in to accomplish this."
In the past three years RSPCA's foster care program has grown exponentially. Last year alone, the number of animals in foster care jumped by 37% (2758 to 3784).
With additional resources, improved public access and a more streamlined process of getting animals out for foster, Sarah is anticipating further growth to the foster care model after RSPCA relocates to its new home at O'Halloran Hill in early 2024.
