For Sale signs will soon be going up at our Stepney administration offices and our Lonsdale shelter – yes, we are preparing to move! But first, we need a new home, and until that is built we will be leasing both properties back from the buyers.

The sale of these properties is part of the fundraising needed to make our new purpose-built Animal Care Campus – incorporating South Australia’s first dedicated wildlife hospital – a reality. We need a total of $23m, and revenue from these property sales will go part way to covering that cost. We are also directing remaining funds donated to our 2020 Bushfire Appeal, and we have kept aside some funds knowing that we would need to – at some stage – either redevelop the Lonsdale shelter or build an entirely new facility. We are very glad that the latter is what will occur!

Lonsdale has served us well for more than 40 years, but it is located in an isolated industrial zone – this is no longer an acceptable area in which to keep our animals. And the standards at the shelter, much of it built in the 1980s, no longer meet the standards required to accommodate animals.

Some enclosures flood in winter, making them unusable, and it is a battle to keep our dogs warm in winter and cool in summer while housing them in the current exposed, outdated kennels. Meanwhile, our veterinary team operate in the cramped rooms that were once a private home. Providing best-practise care for animals in these substandard facilities is a daily struggle for our small, hardworking team of expert staff and the 1000-plus amazing volunteers who help them. It is definitely time to move!

A new era in animal care ahead

We currently care for about 8000 animals a year. With our new Animal Care Campus, the figure is projected to double as RSPCA SA – for the first time – provides veterinary care to native animals and birds.

They will come to us via our state’s dedicated network of volunteer wildlife rescue groups, and from members of the public who come across wildlife in need of veterinary attention.

The new Campus will be an education hub that furthers our community’s collective understanding about animal sentience and best-practise animal care, informed by the latest scientific studies. Veterinary students and practising vets will also have the opportunity to build skills and experience in treating native animals.

An important milestone

Our CEO Paul Stevenson recently signed the lease agreement with the State Government for the seven-hectare site that we will build on, prominently located on the corner of South Road and Majors Road at O’Halloran Hill. It was a very important milestone. The land now officially and legally belongs to RSPCA South Australia for the next 70 years!

All that remains to do is to design and build the best animal care centre, wildlife hospital and animal welfare education hub in Australia. With support from our animal-loving community, we can do it – and we hope we can all make the move, animals and humans, by the end of next year!