Wendy Parsons honoured for contribution to animal welfare
Wanniassa's Wendy Parsons has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2024 Australia Day honours for her contribution to animal welfare.
She is a former president and continuing member and foster cater for ACT Rescue and Foster (ARF), a non-profit association of volunteers who rescue and rehome unwanted dogs in Canberra and the surrounding region.
She is a former president and continuing member and foster cater for ACT Rescue and Foster (ARF), a non-profit association of volunteers who rescue and rehome unwanted dogs in Canberra and the surrounding region.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Birds chirping]
00:14 Well, I didn't find out until September of this year and I was absolutely amazed.
00:21 I thought, I was actually shocked because I had thought, I didn't have done nothing to deserve this.
00:27 But then I thought of it and thought, well if I can be a sort of spokesperson, and I have been in the past,
00:32 but this is a different level. So I thought I'll just be more useful to ARF because it's a wonderful organisation, it really is.
00:39 Well, ARF, you know, their statement, the statement is, we rescue and rehome dogs from Canberra, ACT and the region.
00:49 So, it's a good, it's a great organisation because it started in 2001 with just two women and a table and a little stall at some sort of event.
01:00 And it's grown from then, right through to be, and on the way, it has put together some excellent governance and frameworks and just sort of admin details that make all the difference.
01:15 You know, even though it's only, inverted commas, volunteer, it's highly professional.
01:21 And all sorts of help to the foster carers who, I mean the point is, people sometimes think we've got a shelter, but we haven't.
01:30 We've got, all the shelters that we've got are the foster carers homes.
01:34 And that's a good thing to have the foster dogs in a home environment because that's where they end up, hopefully, in a good home.
01:43 And, you know, we don't just, when people say, "Oh, I'd like that dog," well, that's not that straightforward.
01:49 There's got to be an interview and a lot of checking going on to see whether the dog is suitable for that home and vice versa.
01:57 [Birds chirping]
02:06 [Silence]