Harcourts Taupō Good Sort for August 2022, Stacy Lewis from Animal Care Tūrangi, holding two kittens available for adoption.
Not many people can say they find orphans on the doorstep when they arrive at work.
Then again not many people would volunteer countless hours each week to look after homeless dogs and cats. Meet this month's Harcourts Taupō Good Sort, Stacy Lewis from Animal Care Tūrangi.
She's happy, because she and her team of 12 volunteers have managed to re-home 34 out of the 64 dogs that came in during May.
"May was huge, we can breathe now," Stacy says.
Animal Care Tūrangi take dogs and cats who are stray, abandoned, sick, injured, lost or where the owner has died.
Taupō mayor David Trewavas was on hand to present Stacy with flowers from Bloomin Flowers and a goodie box from The Merchant. He says, without Stacy and her team, there would be many more homeless dogs and cats in Tūrangi.
"We value you, because you are the one doing the work when no one is looking," David says.
Harcourts co-owner Mary-Louise Johns said without Animal Care Tūrangi, there would be a lot more wild dogs roaming around.
A big part of Stacy's work is feeding photos and stories into social media, with the Facebook page @AnimalCareTurangi having 4600 followers and people coming from all over the North Island to pick up their new pet. She says photos are important as they are often the trigger for a would-be-adopter.
"We had someone come down from Auckland because they liked a kitten's photo on Facebook."
They often get repeat customers, with people coming in for a second dog when their original dog is 2 or so.
Each year the charity rehomes 200 kittens and 50 cats. In the past year they took in 100 puppies and that's not including dogs.
All animals that come into Animal Care Tūrangi are vaccinated and de-sexing is a requirement of adoption. The Pelorus Trust provides funding for de-sexing adopted pets, and PAWS pet animal welfare helps to fund community cardholders to pay for de-sexing where the new pet comes from Animal Care Tūrangi.
Stacy says Tūrangi VetEnt provides them with a tremendous discount for vaccinations and their animal health bill.
As a matter of course, all the dogs are vaccinated against parvo (canine parvovirus).
"Recently someone left a puppy on the doorstep and the next day it tested positive for parvo. We had to put it down."
Stacy says it's common for puppies and kittens to be dumped outside Animal Care Tūrangi.
"I arrive at work and often find the new orphan of the day."
In the past year, Stacy and her team have returned eight cats to their owners.
"Last week we returned a cat to its Wellington-based owner after it was lost for four months. People go on holiday with their cat, stop for a comfort stop and the cat jumps out."
The huge number of dogs that were dumped earlier in the year has meant Animal Care Tūrangi can only now take dogs from the pound, and will redirect people who come to them with unwanted dogs or puppies.
She says they had to rethink the way they do things so in the future they are not overwhelmed with too many dogs.
"So now, we work exclusively with the Taupō District Council pound. We won't take puppies from people, they can go to the pound.
"I will rehome kittens, but they have to get a voucher from me to desex the cat."
The dogs and puppies that end up at Animal Care Tūrangi now have a new, fenced-off outdoor area to run around and play in, funded by the council through the Tūrangi-Tongariro Community Board.
She says the outdoor area is proving a hit with her residents already.
"The dogs love it, they go out and run around, sniff in the dirt, dig and pick up sticks. It's awesome and I'm super grateful."
Stacy says they have fantastic support from the Tūrangi community. Volunteers come in every day to clean the cages and feed the animals, and the committee members are active business owners who care about the Tūrangi community.
Stacy says working at Animal Care Tūrangi is meant to be a "retirement" job. She is native to Los Angeles and moved to Motuoapa with her New Zealand-born husband John Lewis 20 years ago.
"My long-suffering husband puts up with cats and kittens in the house, and dogs in crates."
The couple have their own pet dog, but Stacy says John does all the dog walking.
Support Animal Care Tūrangi
Donate online: Look for the handle @AnimalCareTurangi and press the "donate" button on Facebook or the donate button at to www.GiveALittle.co.nz
Become a regular donor or volunteer: email Stacy Lewis at animalcareturangi@gmail.com
Local Democracy Reporting obtained the decision through the court.