Pet Refuge NZ

We love our Pet Refuge family and all they do to support our mahi and the pets and families we care for. A group of intermediate students from Kristin School reached out to us, asking if they could volunteer their time at our shelter. Unfortunately, as much as we would love for people to see the passion our team has and the time and care that goes into the daily operations at the shelter, it's something we can't accommodate. Our pets are from traumatic environments so we try to keep their ‘home away from home’ as consistent and peaceful as possible, giving them security while also keeping them safe in a secret location. So instead these students in the ‘Roots and Shoots’ programme got to work on making some toys and enrichment items for the cats at the shelter. One girl even taught herself to crochet her contribution by watching YouTube! From our team to yours, thank you for all your time and efforts in supporting our cause. The cats love their new enrichment toys 😊

Be in with the chance to WIN $10,000 worth of prizes! Thanks to Dulux, Freedom and Fable Hotels and Resorts you could be adding a touch of luxury to your home OR whisking away to experience luxury at one of Fable’s beautiful hotels or resorts. The best part, the profit from every ticket goes directly to Pet Refuge ❤️🐾 Each $10 ticket puts you into the draw to win one of two prizes: ⭐ Prize one: $10,000 RRP Dulux and Freedom package towards a room makeover OR ⭐ Prize two: $10,000 Fable Hotel & Resorts Voucher. Dulux, Freedom and Fable share our mission to help communities across Aotearoa have access to safe and comfortable spaces, and all recognise this extends to our furry companions too. With their support, and yours, we can provide shelter, safety, food, enrichment, veterinary care and transport to pets nationwide who need a safe place to call home while their family escapes abuse AND you could win one of these amazing prizes! Every ticket sold goes directly to helping families and pets across Aotearoa escape family violence, so when you buy a ticket not only are you in the draw to win one of two amazing prizes but you’re also changing a pet’s life. Tickets are limited so don’t miss out on a paw-some prize! To find out more or buy your ticket, follow the link below: www.saferpetsraffle.co.nz

We've helped over 500 pets from more than 300 families escape family violence ❤️ 🐾 In celebration, we wanted to share a message from one of our Pet Refuge families: "To all you amazing Pet Refuge staff and supporters! I just wanna show my sincere appreciation and gratitude for the care and love you provided to my beloved pets during their stay at your shelter. Leaving my dog, *Piper, and cat, *Jazz, behind was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. But knowing that they were in your capable hands gave me peace of mind. Your dedication, compassion, and commitment to animal welfare are truly commendable. I am amazed at the level of care and attention you gave to my babies whilst in your care. From feeding and grooming to playtime and exercise, I can tell that my babies were well taken care of. You prioritize the health and well-being of the animals in your shelter. Also, the care package is just amazing, and we are so grateful for a very well-thought-out gift. Being away from them was difficult but knowing that they were receiving love and attention from your staff made me feel at ease. It was heartwarming to see my pets happy and content in the photos and updates you provided me during their stay. Thank you once again for your dedication and hard work towards helping pets in need. Your shelter truly makes a difference in the lives of animals and their owners. With heartfelt gratitude, and love from *Maya" This thank you belongs to you, as we wouldn't be able to help families like Piper, Jazz and Maya without the support of our Pet Refuge whanau. 🌺 The beautiful putiputi (flowers) pictured are a celebratory gift from our friends at Petstock Petstock Foundation who have supported Pet Refuge since we first opened. We are so grateful for you and everyone else who helps us care for pets in need. 🌷

What an honour to be recognised at the 2024 Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) For Purpose Reporting Awards. At Pet Refuge trust is at the very core of our mahi - If our whanau don't trust us, it's unlikely they'll accept our support. We pride ourselves on earning this trust with transparency, consistency, and great communication, so having those particular qualities recognised in our reporting was a compliment of the highest caliber. Maike Scherer and team, you put on a wonderful event. Thanks for having us and hopefully, we'll be back next year. Jamie McKean and Recordbase - Thank you for the $1,000 prize money. It'll go a long way toward helping pets and their families. Thank you also for the unparalleled introduction. By the looks of this picture, your spiel paired with that certificate made our CFO Jill Somerfield and GM Erin Ellis-Roberts two very happy ladies!

A huge thank you to the organisers for such a wonderful event! We are incredibly honoured to be recognised alongside so many other inspiring organisations and to be awarded the First Time Entry Award. A massive thank you to our incredible finance team for their hard work 🐾

We are so grateful for our incredible family of supporters and all they do to help us provide our essential service. Without the support of our Pet Refuge whanau many pets, and their special people, would remain stuck in dangerous situations. Or worse. In April, the team at Denham Bramwell Lawyers celebrated Easter with their fur babies and colleagues through a charity raffle, raising funds for Pet Refuge's mahi. Family Law firms, like Denham Bramwell, often see clients who are leaving or want to leave violent relationships. They hear firsthand from people who have stayed living with violence, unable to leave for fear of what will happen if their pet is left behind. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for choosing to help those families through our mahi. If you too would like to fundraise with your coworkers, community or whanau you can follow this link (https://lnkd.in/gCa-DNht) - Every $1 makes an immeasurable difference in the lives of pets. We can't do what we do without you.

Our Caseworkers are a crucial part of our team. From transporting pets to safety and reuniting them with their families, to providing a key, trusted contact for those temporarily separated from their beloved pets. Family violence is complex, and no person's experience is the same. Making sure we work with our families in a respectful and empathetic way is so important to us and the service we offer. As part of our ongoing pursuit to better understand and communicate with our families, our Caseworkers recently attended the ECLIPSE Family Violence Services Practitioner-Victim Insight Concept training with Founder Debbs Murray. Debbs is also a victim-survivor of family violence. The course covered the different methods of coercive control that aggressors use to gain control over and entrap their victims, and how these methods impact our families and their engagements with us. "Debbs spoke of how our clients will be watching how we deal with them to help them decide whether or not to trust us. Trust is such a big thing in our job. The training really brought home just how difficult it is for victims to trust, and how they'll be ‘evaluating’ everything about how we deal with them." - Trish, Pet Refuge Case Manager. Our Caseworker, Jodee, agreed the more she learns and understands about our families' perspective and context, the better we can serve them. "Having that better understanding of family harm gives me the knowledge and empathy when going to picks ups and drop offs. Knowing what to expect helps me to remain calm so pets don’t pick up on any more stress, and we can focus on delivering them safely. Knowing the environments the pets come from means we put their health and safety first."

Our shelter team is extraordinary at what they do. From training reactive and challenging pets to managing veterinary protocols, to creating bespoke enrichment plans, they quite literally do it all. Amongst this incredible team are some superstars in the dog competition world, Lou, Mikayla, and Sophie, and we wanted to share their recent success with you. With her three dogs, Sophie competes in agility and dog dancing (tricks to music) and with the most recent competition at the NZ Agility National Show, travelling as far as Christchurch to compete. A few years ago, Sophie and her older dog won the national dog dancing competition on highest points. Lou, with her dog Skittles, competes in Rally-O, obedience, and scent trials. Skittles won the 2023 clubs’ annual trophies for best upcoming dog and handler with the most points gained in the year for Beginners.  Skittles earned her Novice vehicle search, Novice container search, scent Novice title, and Rally Novice title last year, as well as her CGC (Canine Good Citizen) Bronze title. The pair is new to competing, so they have many exciting plans for 2024. Mikayla and Luna started obedience competitions in late 2023 and have done well already. Luna recently earned her foundation and bronze title for CGC, along with novice and intermediate trick training titles. This year, the duo plans to enter more obedience competitions. Congratulations to these incredible ladies for their success so far. Excited to see where the year ahead takes you and your dogs!

This past year has been challenging for Kiwis and the charities that serve them. For our communities, added financial pressures have led to an uplift in family violence and violence against pets. There are amazing refuges available to families, but many will not use them as they can't take their pets too. Thanks to you, our incredible supporters, we can cover ALL costs for pets in need. However, we need your help to grow our Pet Refuge family, so we are reaching out to you to spread awareness and raise funds through a gold coin community fundraiser. We believe in the power of community and the impact we can make if we all do a little. Every $1 can make a massive difference in the lives of pets and families escaping violence. The concept is simple: Gather your community, whether it is your colleagues, friends, or family, and fundraise to reach each milestone. We want to make it easy, so we will provide you with a fundraising pack with everything you need and cases of our mahi (work) to help get people engaged. Will you help us raise crucial funds to provide veterinary care, transport, enrichment, and training to a pet in need so a family can find safety? Register through the link below and help pets live violence free. https://lnkd.in/gj6bQsFm

We can’t thank our Cornerstone partners Petstock Group enough for their amazing surprise donation of $59k!!! We are so lucky to have such a generous organisation supporting us and the work we do. We know this is going to make a massive impact to pets and families escaping family violence 🐾🐶💕