Media releases

A new animal care centre with adoption services, education programs and a growing foster-care network has been revealed as RSPCA South Australia’s future vision in Port Lincoln.

Chief Executive Officer Paul Stevenson announced in August 2017 that the Port Lincoln Animal Care Centre will be an operational animal shelter on a smaller scale with facilities for up to 15 dogs and cat.

At new leased premises on Windsor Ave, Port Lincoln, RSPCA South Australia will construct new accommodations for animals, as well as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for adoption and surrender services, training room for volunteers, and a retail presence.

Our aim is for the new Port Lincoln Animal Care Centre to be the focal point for building the collective animal welfare knowledge, skills and involvement of the whole local community.

 Key points of RSPCA South Australia’s plan for Port Lincoln:

• New premises have been secured on Windsor Ave with a projected opening date of November. This new Port Lincoln Animal Care Centre will have five modern dog kennels and ten state of-the-art cat enclosures, which all incorporate in their design the best in animal science for improving the wellbeing of accommodated animals. The new centre will act as a hub of community engagement with a training room for volunteers, and a retail area.
• RSPCA South Australia is now recruiting a new Port Lincoln Animal Centre Manager. We are looking for a “people person” who is a local resident of Port Lincoln with primary responsibility for operations management, coordination of volunteers and liaison with the community, council and media. All of these functions will be undertaken with ongoing training and support from the Society. View the position description here.
• The current RSPCA facility on Happy Valley Road will remain open for cat adoptions until November. A large portion of the land will be cleared with a view to return to the market in September.
• A local “RSPCA Community Network” will be established to help create self-sustaining operations in Port Lincoln. There will be volunteering opportunities for locals in RSPCA’s Port Lincoln Animal Care Centre, foster caring, education, training, rescue, transport, OpShop and fundraising activities. These programmes will all be progressively introduced over the next two years, subject to demand and support from the people of Port Lincoln.
• All proceeds from the sale of current land will be spent only on Port Lincoln’s new premises and operations. All funds from Port Lincoln will be spent in caring for Port Lincoln’s animals with a self-sustaining financial model the goal. A separate bank account will be established in a local Port Lincoln bank branch with transactions reported to the RSPCA Community Network each year.
• RSPCA South Australia education programmes for schools and community groups. RSPCA South Australia wishes to extend its services within Port Lincoln and bring our Empathy Education Programmes to Port Lincoln kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. As the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, prevention is core to our mission, with education the most powerful tool in achieving that mission. Our education programmes along with RSPCA Animal Welfare Policies are all science and evidence based and designed to deliver a level of animal care that meets the broad community’s expectations.

Download a PDF copy of the full plans here. This plan outlines a new era for RPSCA South Australia in Port Lincoln, with a renewed focus on education and community engagement.

Perfect pets:

All pets adopted from RSPCA’s Port Lincoln Animal Care Centre by the community will be vet-checked, vaccinated, microchipped, desexed and behaviour assessed.

RSPCA South Australia follows responsible adoption processes and trained staff and volunteers assess the needs of each animal and will assist adopters in finding a pet that is the right match for them.