May 10 - 16, 2023
Mission to save animals By CHLOE JAENICKE BARBARA Webster’s house in Wangaratta is like a zoo with all animals from kittens to kookaburras. You name it and she or her partner Donna Willis have probably rescued it. Ms Webster is passionate about animals and over the last three years has dedicated herself to making sure animals are de-sexed and find a good home. She believes that being able to de-sex animals should be cheaper due to the rising cost of living. “It’s so expensive and now the people, they just can’t afford it with everything, with the rental crisis, food going up and everything else,” she said. Ms Webster often goes outside the region to help reduce the expense to get her animals desexed. This includes the 17 kittens Ms Willis was taking care of. Some of the kittens were found deserted a few weeks ago with no owner or mother to take care of them. “The mother should be feeding them but she was nowhere to be seen and there were three tiny kittens who were very cold,” Ms Webster said. Ms Willis is still currently bottle feeding five of the kittens and Ms Webster is bottle feeding the runt of the litter while slowly introducing nine of the kittens to wet foods.
◆ BIRD IN THE HAND: Donna Willis with a kookaburra in her care. PHOTO: Kurt Hickling
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