Coronavirus isolation led to a surge in pet adoptions over the past year, saving thousands
of animal lives. The Companion Animal Rescue Awards returns for its fourth year to celebrate and inspire rescue groups and animal shelters
who have made an impact and
continue their efforts
in saving companion animals.
The Rescue Awards is
Australia’s first and only
national awards program for hard working rescues, shelters,
foster carers and passionate pet adopters. The program is managed by Pets4Life, an independent education resource for cat and dog guardians
and those thinking of getting a pet.
At a celebration with guests
from Greyhound Rescue, 2020 Outstanding
Rescue Group winner, the Rescue Awards welcomed Pet
Insurance Australia as the new Platinum
Rescue Hero and Naming
Partner. The program is now called the ‘Pet Insurance
Australia Companion Animal
Rescue Awards 2021’.
“The Rescue Awards
is absolutely delighted
to welcome Pet Insurance Australia as our new Naming
Partner,” said Cathy Beer, pet adoption advocate
and founder of the Rescue
Awards and Pets4Life.
“Pet Insurance Australia
is one of our wonderful
founding Supporters, right from the start in 2018. Pet insurance is critical to ensure pets receive top quality veterinary treatment and care. This fine Australian family-owned business brings
an international reputation for excellence and a caring approach to their customers seeking pet insurance.”
The mission of the Rescue Awards is to celebrate
and acknowledge achievements in the rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of companion animals
in Australia. It is the platform to showcase
excellence and innovation, thereby raising
the standards of rescue groups
and animals shelters nation-wide.
“The Rescue Awards shines the spotlight on thousands of heart-warming
stories from pet adopters and foster carers
about how their
adopted/foster pet has transformed and changed lives,”
said Cathy.
Every year, approximately 190,000 pets remain unclaimed in Australia’s pounds and shelters,
and thousands of volunteers support
over 1,000 rescue groups and animal shelters across Australia¹. The Rescue Awards recognises the dedication of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly
to help rescue pets find homes.
“Our past winners
and finalists say the recognition by the Rescue Awards gives their staff
and volunteers the motivation to ‘keep calm and carry on’ re-homing
surrendered and abandoned
pets every day in
a challenging environment,” said Cathy.
In 2021, the Pet Insurance Australia Companion Animal
Rescue Awards is
building on the success of 2020 when over 1,000 entries were received.
Returning as the Rescue Awards Ambassador is Lara Shannon, Certified Dog Trainer,
Animal Welfare Advocate, author of ‘Eat, Play Love your Dog’, Host of Channel 10’s Pooches at Play and features in Channel 9s The Pet Rescuers. Lara
shares her enthusiasm for the Rescue
Awards in her video
message.
Pet Insurance Australia
Spokesperson Nadia Crighton said,
“Pet Insurance Australia is
thrilled to be the Platinum
Rescue Hero and Naming Partner for the Pet Insurance Australia Companion Animal Rescue Awards for 2021.”
Ali Osmani, Pet Insurance Australia CEO, said, "After supporting these important awards for the past four years, it's a great honour to continue our support in a larger capacity. We encourage
Australian rescues and shelters
who work tirelessly to rehome, rehabilitate and foster pets of all shapes and sizes to enter and get the recognition they deserve."
Cathy also revealed
this year’s Judges, Categories, Supporters and Prizes, and thanks animal lovers across the country for helping
to make a difference by
adopting or fostering a pet.
Rescue Award Categories
The Rescue Awards 2021 has 10 Categories with one winner for each category.
Award categories 1 – 8 are for industry.
Category 9, the People’s Rescue Story’ is for Aussie pet guardians
who have adopted a pet and category 10 is the Foster Carer Story’ for foster carers of companion
animals waiting for their
forever home.
PET INSURANCE
AUSTRALIA RESCUE
AWARDS 2021
CATEGORIES
1.
Outstanding Rescue Group
2.
Outstanding New Rescue Group
3.
Outstanding Animal
Shelter
4.
Outstanding Council Animal
Shelter
5.
Innovation in
Companion Animal Welfare
and Management
6.
Community Education and Outreach Program
7.
Volunteer of the Year
8.
Refuel Creative Digital Marketing
9.
People’s Rescue Story
10. Foster Carer Story
A note on my involvement
What is my role? I have volunteered as a judge for the Companion
Animal Rescue Awards since their inception.
What does it involve? the judging is extremely rigorous. The
applications are extensive – designed to enable those in Companion Animal
Rescue to be recognised for their work they do, but also to ensure they are
meeting high standards. If I have a conflict of interest with a particular
individual or organisation, I don’t assess that application. There are several
rounds of judging to ensure the panel is comfortable and confident with the
decision. Category winners can be assured that they have really achieved
recognition.
Why am I doing this? Here and in many parts of the world we continue to
have a surplus of companion animals – but this is reducing. The field of
companion animal rescue has evolved so much in the last decade, and there are
individuals and organisations innovating to reduce length of stay in shelters,
maximise rehoming rates and maximise animal welfare. To ensure this improvement
continues, we need to make sure that those people doing the RIGHT thing are
recognised, and that effective innovations can be shared.
Personally, I am also impressed that the Companion Animal
Rescue Awards recognise not just animal welfare, but the welfare of those
working in this field – one singled out for high rates of moral stress and
burnout in published literature. We need to make sure that systems are sustainable,
and that individuals and organisations recognised share compassion not just
with animals, but also the teams who look after them.
What next? I encourage you to enter, but don’t wait until the last minute. The application process is comprehensive. You will need to think about the responses, gather the relevant information, and spend a bit of time. You might realise there is an area you hadn’t thought about before – that’s part of the benefit of entering these awards.
