Project provides HoPe for pets

They may be man’s best friends, but an alarming number of them make up an often forgotten part of our society: disadvantaged pets.

Veterinarian Dr Sam Kovac of Southern Cross Veterinary Clinic and Rabbi Mendel Kastel, CEO of Jewish House, collaborated to establish Project HoPe (Homeless Pets) in August this year.

Project HoPe was created to provide care for and vaccinate any animal who may not normally have been able to receive necessary treatment due to the circumstances of their owner.

Dr Kovac states: “Animals don’t discriminate between rich and poor, healthy and unhealthy, and these animals living rough on the street should have equal rights to veterinary attention and medical care.”

After founding the Southern Cross Veterinary Clinic in Sydney’s St Peters, Dr Kovac went on to set up the Southern Cross Compassionate Fund to ensure the financially disadvantaged do not have to bargain over the life of their companion.

“Naturally it is heartbreaking when the owner is unable to afford the medical treatment to save their pet,” Dr Kovac says. “Not only does the animal suffer but I think it leaves the owners with a sense of letting their pet down, despite years of a strong bond together.”

Project HoPe not only aims to care for those pets living on the street but also those in public housing. Recently, Dr Kovac treated an animal from a George St, Redfern public housing tower who presented with renal failure. Dr Kovac knew that the only way to save the dog’s life was to put him on a drip that the owner could not afford.

“We were able to pull some money together and the dog received the treatment necessary,” he says. “These people are used to being sent from pillar to post and often avoid vets as they don’t think they will be helped without adequate funds.”

Dr Kovac believes in the care of all animals, regardless of their situation or home. “It is one thing to donate money but it is pretty special to be able to donate my time and industry experience,” he says.

His future goal for Project HoPe is to raise enough funds to eventually microchip all the homeless pets in Sydney.

“If we can tie the animals to my clinic in St Peters and establish a doctor to dog link, we can keep an updated digital record of each pet,” he says. “If they get lost or something happens to the owner we are then able to quickly identify the animal.”

For more information about Project HoPe, to donate to the Compassionate Fund, or if you see a companion animal in need of assistance, contact the Clinic at 60 Princes Highway, St Peters on (02) 9516 0234.

Donations can also be made by contacting Jewish House on (02) 9386 0770. Until January, Dr Sam Kovac pledges all consultation fees from his clinic will be transferred to the fund.