'Millions of animals will be lost': Animal shelter pleads for help

Record numbers of pets were purchased in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with life getting back to normal, animal shelters are being inundated.

"Pounding shelters all over Australia are overflowing," Mel Penn, who runs The Sydney Dogs and Cats Home, told A Current Affair.

"This is not unique to Sydney. This is a national problem."

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According to Penn, The Sydney Dogs and Cats Home has never been busier.

But the animal shelter in Sydney is on the verge of closure and the lives of the vulnerable animals housed there are now in the balance.

"We don't have a future without a permanent facility and without us, millions of animals will be lost," Penn said.

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Penn said she has one very firm rule.

"We don't euthanise any animal, they all deserve a happy life and we make sure they get that."

While the RSPCA does great work, they don't do everything.

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"We specialise in lost and strayed animals; the RSPCA do seizures and surrenders," Penn said.

So when pets are abandoned or get lost, they'll end up at the home in Sydney, if they're lucky.

And the home won't deny an animal from getting surgery if that's needed too.

"We make sure the animals get the care they need," Penn said.

"It's through donations and fundraising that we can do what we do."

A band of volunteers also foster animals who struggle to find a home.

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Vet Laura Taylor and her team work on mental issues in animals along with physical ones.

This means they can settle and be adopted out to a new family.

"A lot of the animals that come to us have been through a traumatic start in life," Taylor said.

But the future of the home is currently looking bleak.

"We are in crisis mode at the moment. Our future is not secure until we get that permanent facility," Penn said.

The animal home has been doing great work for 80 years, but their rented facility was recently sold and they are now operating out of two temporary shelters which are not fit for purpose.

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The NSW Government has gifted them some land, but it's got nothing on it.

"It's going to cost us a lot of money to bring water, waste management electricity to the site," Penn said.

"Then after that, we have to build the shelter."

The project could cost millions of dollars and the home are desperate for financial support from the government, before it's too late.

"We are struggling and it's heartbreaking because we need to be here for the animals," Taylor said.

"Without us, who are all the animals going to go to?"

For more information about how you can help, visit the Sydney Dogs and Cats home website here or visit their fundraising page here.