Safe Pets Safe Families

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (15:23): On 28 January, Safe Pets Safe Families held the official opening of their new warehouse and pet food bank. I had the pleasure of attending the opening, along with the federal member for Adelaide, Steve Georganas, and the shadow minister for child protection and member for Reynell, Katrine Hildyard. There were also many local government representatives in attendance.

It was wonderful to hear from the founder, Jennifer Howard, about her journey to becoming an amazing advocate for families who, mostly through domestic violence—such was the journey she experienced herself—end up heartbroken and torn apart because they are unable to take pets with them when they flee to safety. Safe Pets Safe Families is a registered charity and they have around 140 foster carers and 300 volunteers. They work as a human and animal charity under one welfare framework, providing care and support, as well as education to people and pets in crisis. They reduce the incidents of abuse, neglect, surrender and euthanasia in companion animals.

It is South Australia's first official pet food bank. Pets are often forgotten in the emergency food provision sector, where food is provided to vulnerable people who then often have to sacrifice their food to feed their pets. This organisation is committed to changing this and making sure that pets' food bowls are also full. Food is provided to many charities so people in need can feed their pets. The project is a really important part of the Safe Pets Safe Families objective towards keeping people and pets together, preventing unnecessary trauma through surrender and, horribly, euthanasia of animals that are much loved.

Safe Pets Safe Families works closely with Women's Safety Services in South Australia to support their shelters in becoming pet friendly. They run pop-up vet clinics inside the shelters, and they supply pet food, toys and bedding from their pet food bank to women and families escaping violence. Safe Pets Safe Families has cared for over 1,000 animals through their foster program. It has been keen to remove the barriers for people with pets escaping domestic violence. These clinics also support and assist people by providing housing for pets if their owners are facing homelessness—and I have a personal experience of reaching out to them for support—or experiencing a mental health crisis.

It is filling a huge gap in the system, a really important one. They reach where other services cannot and provide really amazing support and a conduit between other programs and services. They have seen 1,027 pets in the last three to four years, and I think they will see many, many more as they have now become more centralised, moving out of the outer southern suburbs to a more central location. They are a registered vet service provider. They have outreach through Paws and Pals and the clinics they host. I think they do an amazing job.

I really want to congratulate Jennifer Howard on all the work she is doing to coordinate volunteers. I know she has an amazing vision to educate and support young people to invoke a feeling of kindness and compassion to animals which then flows on in their life; it is so very important. They are hoping to secure a mobile vet van in the future, which will make their services much more efficient and bring the service to rural areas, where there is also a need. They are expanding their foster program to the Riverland this month. I really look forward to seeing how this wonderful organisation continues to grow in the future.

The Southern United Netball Association is close to my heart. I have lost much skin on their courts under several layers of resurfacing over the years. They currently have 12 courts with sports lighting, but they have reached the end of their asset life. Laurie Bilby, the executive officer, has done an amazing job working with the City of Onkaparinga to successfully secure $1.7 million from the federal government to help with the upgrade of these courts and the lighting. I know that they are putting in applications to the state government for their program funding.

Given the current and future demand and the thousands of young people and families who are involved with the utilisation of these courts and the importance of bringing people together in the community through sport as a conduit, I hope that they are successful. I put my wholehearted support behind this application. I look forward to doing that formally in writing, and I hope for a successful outcome. Laurie and the team do an amazing job for our people playing netball in the south.