focus feature interview
when Ty had become the greatest running dog in Australian marathon running history. Never before in Australia has there been a K-9 marathoner, and never before in Australia has there been a dog awarded the ‘Marathon Finishers Medal’. Ty had come from death row to become 4 times Australian K-9 marathon running champion. On Sunday, September 9, 2012, Ty returned to where it all started, the Brooks Forster Running Festival half marathon. Ty ran a nice comfortable race, as there was nothing more for her to prove, and amazingly she ran the 2012 race in a record time of 2:18:18, taking a whopping 10 mins, 29 secs off her first half marathon. Ty’s story has been written about in newspapers and magazines. She has been on radio and television and is the only dog in Australia running for the RSPCA and to show people the benefits of recycled pets. When is Team Ty’s next marathon? Ty’s next marathon event will be in the Port Macquarie half marathon on Sunday, March 10, 2013. Ty’s obviously very special in terms of her running ability, but what else is special about her – how would you describe her personality? Ty’s a remarkable dog with a great personality. She is very intelligent; she loves people and absolutely loves to be cheered on. Ty gets on well with the other family
pets: Molly the dog and 5 cats: BB, Bonnie, Freddy, Rosie and Meeka − all have been rescued from an uncertain future. Ty loves to play ball and chase the water coming from the hose. Her favourite colour is yellow, her favourite snack is the chicken drumstick, and her favourite song is Ben by Michael Jackson. Ty has her own bed and her own backyard to play in. She does not tolerate the birds too much when they land in her yard and try to steal her food. Ty is an all-round great dog and has never been any trouble. You’d like to give a special mention to a lady in Kurri Kurri, who operates a rescue service for German Shepherds. What does this service actually do? Pauline Bellemore is the operator of ‘German Shepherd Rescue NSW’ and is located in Keinbah, in the Kurri Kurri area. Pauline has been rescuing Shepherds for 9 years and has rescued and re-homed over 450 Shepherds, with some people coming back for their second Shepherd after their last one passed away. The German Shepherd is a very beautiful dog and is very intelligent and can be fiercely protective of their environment. Pauline can be contacted by email: paulinebellemore@hotmail and her group would be grateful for any feedback or enquiries. What inspires you to keep competing? Ty and I love to run for and support the RSPCA. We are a life member of the RSPCA,
and we have seen first hand the difficulties and the struggles that the RSPCA are faced with every day. The RSPCA NSW require $35 million a year to keep up the great work that they do. The Government gives them about $400,000, and the rest comes from bequests and people like us who donate. All donations to the RSPCA are tax deductable.
Every Christmas thousands of animals turn up to the RSPCA NSW for help, and hundreds remain in desperate need of financial support so they can find new homes. In the months leading up to Christmas, the RSPCA NSW must cope with an extraordinary influx of abandoned animals: over 3,000 extra animals will require shelter and care this Christmas.
The RSPCA NSW inspectorate has 32 inspectors across the state, 16 inspectors in metropolitan Sydney − one inspector for every 281,250 people. There are 16 regional inspectors covering over 800,480 km − one inspector for every 50,030 km. It’s a small team with lots of ground to cover and thousands of animals requiring the RSPCA’s assistance. The RSPCA NSW can be found at:
rspcansw.org.au, or write to: Po Box 34, Yagoona NSW 2199, or phone: 1300 278 3589. What’s in the future for team Ty? The future of Team Ty Marathon Dog is to keep running long distance as long as we possibly can and to keep supporting the RSPCA NSW. I would like to see Ty recognised and registered as an Australian Champion running dog, but at the moment Australia does not have a category for marathon running dogs. I would also like to see a K-9 marathon event take place in Sydney, which has never been seen before in Australia, or even the world. This K-9 marathon event would be for K-9 teams only and could be used as a fundraising event for organisations such as the RSPCA and Animal Welfare League. I believe this idea would attract a lot of interest and generate sponsorship directly from Australian industry. I guess when the day comes that Ty gets too old to be running these long distance events, she may be giving herself to the elderly as a companion dog visiting nursing homes and the like. As Team Ty, we would like to thank everyone who has come out to support Ty the wonder dog and see her run and to all those who have donated to the RSPCA. Thanks Mark and Ty. Interview by Jo Atkins. manning-great lakes focus 7