Ballarat's animal shelter has been overwhelmed by community generosity, after a call out for donations resulted in their shelves being stocked to the brim.
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As part of its annual Christmas drive the City of Ballarat's animal shelter began taking donations of pet food, blankets, bed and other pet favourites.
The donations came in hot, and soon, to the surprise of shelter staff, they were unable to physically house all of the donated good they had been given.
Ballarat mayor Des Hudson congratulated the community on their efforts.
"To know that we have actually reached capacity and that we really can't take any more donations, it is really humbling to know the generosity of our community," he said.
"We live in really tough times at the moment with the cost of living. Yet people's generosity with their fur babies - they come out en masse with donations, whether it is blankets, food, peanut butter, all sorts of things. We have just been inundated."
Donations came in from across the community, including a proxy donation from Sydney, after a relative of a Ballarat resident saw the shelter was looking for assistance.
Taking in animals from across Ballarat and its neighbouring shires, the Ballarat Animal Shelter has capacity for about 65 dogs and 120 cats.
Alongside the donation drive, 23 dogs were adopted from the shelter in December 2023 and 41 cats.
Over the course of the year, 1154 animals in total were adopted, including 856 cats and kittens, 293 dogs and puppies and five rabbits and guinea pigs.
However, City of Ballarat animal services coordinator Clare Douglas-Haynes said there are still many animals at the shelter looking for a new home.
"Probably in October and November we saw the biggest influx of dog surrenders that we have ever seen.
"We were at capacity probably four or five times, which means that we couldn't accept any more dogs, which isn't a good position to be in."
It comes after architects were appointed for the development of a new regional animal shelter facility in Mitchell Park.
Melbourne-based architects Architecture Matters have been awarded the design contract from the City of Ballarat, with plans expected to be finalised in mid 2024.
Cr Hudson said the current shelter in Alfredton, which was formerly an abattoir, had served its purpose but more capacity was needed.
"It will be fantastic when the new facility is built, as a purpose-built facility, brand new, delivering services from a regional point of view, and expanding the current operation at the moment," he said.
"As we get further throughout this year, at some point hopefully we will be going to tender for that particular project."
The new shelter is expected to be able to hold around 80 dogs and 200 cats, and will be purpose-built.
To adopt, email animalshelter@ballarat.vic.gov.au, or visit 5A Gillingham Place, Alfredton to make an appointment. You can also check out the listings online for the current dogs and cats available.
There is a rehoming fee of $410 for all dogs at the Animal Shelter. Which includes all the necessary veterinary checks, microchipping, registration and de-sexing.
The Ballarat Animal Shelter cannot accept any more donations for now, as the storage areas are at capacity.
People with items to donate are encouraged to reach out to other not for profit organisations to see if they need their items.
