I’m sorry if this photo of Lola upsets you. We were shocked! She was starving when we rescued her and her friend, Ollie. We reached them just in time.

But they’re not the only ones—other animals need our help! Please donate today so we can keep rescuing animals in distress.

If someone asked you what dogs are made of, you’d probably say 100% pure love, loyalty, and innocence.

They just don’t have it in them to hold grudges—there’s just not a bad bone in their bodies. But some people neglect their pets severely, like Ollie and Lola’s owners did. And because cruelty to animals is a crime, they were fined thousands of dollars and banned from contact with any animal for 10 years.

But best of all, Ollie and Lola are happy and healthy today and in new homes—thanks to two months of rehabilitation and special care. Animal lovers like you helped to save these dogs’ lives. And by donating today, you can help give another dog a life worth living.

If you saw the way that many dogs are forced to live, you’d wonder why they still crave human company despite being treated like garbage. It’s heartless and heartbreaking... some people don’t deserve to have dogs. Of course, there are times when people simply don’t know about proper pet care.

RSPCA WA inspectors help in situations like that—they know the difference between outright cruelty and ignorance.

In those cases, it’s usually clear that the pet owners do care about their animals. They take the inspector’s advice, make the recommended changes—and are happy to see how their pets benefit from RSPCA WA’s intervention. This is why helping pet owners who genuinely need advice is such a rewarding part of our inspectors’ work.

As Inspector Genna—who has been with us for seven years—says:

‘It’s not just about animals. It’s about people too. There are people who fall on hard times and need help. And there are people who love their animals, but don’t necessarily know what they need, and it’s our job to help them to help their animals.’

Education is an important part of our work. Like our inspectors, you know that neglect caused by ignorance never looks like skin and bone—it never looks like Ollie and Lola.

Ollie and Lola were ignored even as their condition deteriorated so badly that they became walking skeletons. That’s no exaggeration. Lola, still young at only two years, weighed just under 18 kg; and Ollie, a five-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback-Staghound cross, weighed only 17 kg... he ought to have weighed at least 25kgs.

These dogs were barely surviving not because of their owners, but despite them.

Skeletal, starving and stuck at the end of chains, their misery ended only because RSPCA WA stepped in and made it stop.

Ollie and Lola’s story may well have ended tragically if not for our action and compassion from generous people like you. We rely on generous donations for around 90% of what it costs to carry out our animal protection work. Donations help to keep our inspectors on the road, ready to respond to reports of cruelty and rescue animals in distress.

It’s not easy. Inspector Genna says it’s ‘the best worst job’ she’s ever had. It’s rewarding, frustrating, consuming; it’s a true calling... but it’s also expensive.

Caring for animals costs money. And when you consider that RSPCA WA deals with hundreds of animals every month, costs quickly add up. It’s veterinary care, drips, drugs like antibiotics, x-rays, collars, leads, catch poles and rescue equipment; kennels, catteries and shelter; hygiene, grooming, fuel and maintenance to keep animals and inspectors safe on the road... the list goes on.

If only love could pay the bills! But the reality is, without the support from the community, we’d have to close our doors. We can never let that happen!

Your gift will help us to keep doing the things you would do if you were in our shoes:

• getting animals out of harm’s way,
• taking in lost, homeless and frightened pets,
• preventing cruelty, and
• promoting pet care education.

We really wish that Ollie and Lola’s case was rare, or even unusual. But it isn’t.

RSPCA has been protecting animals in WA for 130 years. And we’re still stunned by the callous acts of some people.

How can someone purposefully treat animals as if they have no needs or feelings, yet they feel thirst, hunger, pain, loss, joy, sadness—and so much more—just as we do.

Not a week goes by without us receiving reports of pets without food or water. And almost always, when our inspectors reach these severely neglected dogs, there’s no aggression, there’s just desperation.

But it’s not only desperation for food or water, it’s mostly for human contact... for gentle, reassuring touch that says, ‘I see you. I’m here for you. I will not leave you because I am here to save you.’

These dogs will use what little strength they have left to strain at their chains, even choking, trying to reach out for human contact they crave. It’s heartbreaking how dogs still wag their tails for the people who hurt them... they still trust the hands that beat them, search for those who abandon them and pine for those who forsake them.

Until their last breath—even if their owners are the cause of it—they never give up on people.

And RSPCA WA will never give up on them. Like children, animals are at the mercy of people on whom they depend for everything: food, water, shelter, veterinary care when they’re sick, exercise, love, play, protection from harm... all the things that make a dog’s life worth living.

This is what generous donations provide.

Ollie and Lola were with us for two months, undergoing medical treatment, behaviour training and assessments to ensure they’d cope well in new homes. That may sound straightforward, but it doesn’t begin to describe the effort, expertise, teamwork—and loving attention—that’s involved with helping animals to heal from neglect.

It’s worth every moment—because seeing animals get second chances like this helps our inspectors to deal with the heartbreak of cruelty cases.

Inspector Genna, who rescues animals like Ollie and Lola, had this to say: ‘It does get very difficult... there’s a lot of emotional turmoil that you have to deal with on a daily basis.

But there’s no better feeling than to see an animal recover from cruelty and neglect.

‘You become connected to the animals you rescue, so we’re kept up-to-date on what happens to them. Although we might not be with them every step of the way, we’re still there, supporting them from the sideline.’

It’s painfully ironic that we see the best of dogs while seeing the worst of people.

Everything we do—from rescuing dogs like Ollie and Lola to providing veterinary care and sheltering pets until they find new homes—is only possible because of donations from animal lovers like you.

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