Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Monika's Doggie Rescue is Australia's largest no-kill charity. Since opening its doors in 2001, Doggie Rescue has saved the lives of over 12,000 dogs. Monika's Doggie Rescue is in Ingleside, a suburb that has recently been saved from the overdevelopment plans of Labor and the Greens. Doggie Rescue is a largely volunteer-run organisation that survives on donations from the public. Doggie Rescue receives the dogs mostly from council pounds. These dogs have been abandoned, abused and deprived. They arrive extremely stressed. Doggie Rescue works to turn these little lives around and teach dogs to trust again.

Part of teaching this trust is giving them a place to run around and be free. For some years Monika has dreamed of creating her own off-leash park, a space where the dogs can do just that. Doggie Rescue Freedom Dog Park is the newest project that will allow the rescued dogs the space they need to heal and recover before being rehomed to a new home forever. Scrolling through Monika's monthly newsletter on her Facebook group, it is easy to see why so many dogs have been successfully rehomed. Monika and her team rehabilitate these dogs in such a magnificent way. Many happy customers, if you will, remark that not only have they saved a dog's life but, in return, a dog has saved theirs.