MAY 20, 2020 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
Every dog has its day
Maryanne Kovach and her daughter Harper, 5, with the puppies. (Damjan Janevski) 208501_06
All 4 Paws Dog Rescue has saved more than 650 dogs during the past three years. The volunteer-run group rescues and rehomes dogs from pounds, and takes in surrenders, including pregnant dogs and senior canines. All 4 Paws was founded by Altona Meadows resident Maryanne Kovach and her friend Danni McRae, with the encouragement of their friends Terri Sutton and Arianne Spratt. Ms Kovach, who is currently looking after some pups which came into care at just four days old, said it often cost thousands of dollars to help rescued dogs. “We never know what we are getting, such as Lilla, a Newfoundland, who was underweight and in poor condition – it cost almost $7k just to get her to a state of being able to be rehomed,” she said. Ms Kovach said All 4 Paws relied on donations, gifts and fundraising to continue saving dogs. She said the group also raised money by selling dog accessories, such as bandanas made by a talented foster carer. Details: www.all4pawsdogrescue.com. au/ Alesha Capone
Fight for council jobs By Benjamin Millar Western suburbs state MPs are calling on Maribyrnong council to reverse its “shock” decision to sack 150 casual staf in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Maribyrnong council last month terminated the employment of 150 casual workers due to the forced closure of the Maribyrnong Aquatic Centre and council-run facilities. he sackings have been slammed by the Australian Services Union (ASU) and criticised
by Footscray MP Katie Hall, Williamstown MP Melissa Horne and state legislative council member Ingrid Stitt. An ASU petition seeking reinstatement of the workers, launched last week, has attracted more than 600 signatures. “Terminating staf was unnecessary and will worsen the impacts of COVID-19 on our community … Maribyrnong has no justiication to sever the employment of staf when the option to stand them down was available,” the petition states.
Maribyrnong council chief executive Stephen Wall told last month’s council meeting the job losses resulted from the government’s decision to close a number of customer-facing facilities. He said the terminations were to help casuals ineligible for the JobKeeper scheme to access government support. But a strongly-worded joint letter from the Labor MPs sent to Mr Wall, seen by Star Weekly, argued the terminations were “an unnecessary shock” to the staf, particularly when the council had the option to stand them down.
he letter noted that many were long-term staf. “We respectfully request that the 150 terminations are each rescinded, so that staf are available for redeployment and work when services reopen.” ASU branch secretary Lisa Darmanin said no other council in Victoria had terminated the employment of so many staf. She said the Fair Work Commission advised that the council could rescind the terminations. Maribyrnong council was contacted.
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