Meet Di, the compassionate dog lover who’s chosen to remember RSPCA in her Will

Ever since she was a young girl, Di has had a great love for animals.

Growing up as an only child, Di turned to animals for companionship and comfort – and she always felt a great desire to help animals in need.

“I would always do what I could to help animals,” the retired loss and grief counsellor tells us.

“If a bird had a broken wing, I’d try to fix it. I’d feed all the stray cats and dogs around the neighbourhood.”

When Di was growing up in Adelaide in the 1950s, there was limited support for the large population of stray animals. Her small gesture of feeding hungry animals, without a home to call their own, was the least she could do as a young child.

All these years later, at the age of 67, Di’s powerful love for animals has only continued to deepen – and it’s led her to become one of RSPCA South Australia’s most generous supporters.

With three adored dogs of her own, Di wants to do all she can to help other animals  

Having grown up with dogs all her life, Di cannot imagine life without canine companions.

At her home in Glenelg North, Di lives with five-year-old Biggles, three-year-old Maude – and the more recent addition of 12-year-old Casper, an RSPCA South Australia rescue.

“I have always wanted to adopt a senior dog,” Di tells us.

“It’s always been on my agenda – it was just a matter of timing. I bonded with Casper straight away, and I just wanted to give him the best life he could have for his time left.”

Di tells us she’s “hit the lottery” with Casper – but we think it’s the other way around.

Rescued from a property where he and multiple other dogs had been abandoned, Casper hasn’t had an easy life.

With a host of medical issues requiring ongoing care and support, ordinarily, a senior dog like Casper would be waiting to find his forever home for some time.

But luckily for Casper, Di was more than willing to open her heart and home to him.

“Adopting a senior dog, you get so much more out of it. They just give you so much,” Di shares.

“It’s extra work, but Casper just melts me – and he is so lovely and adaptable.”

Di tells us that Casper is like her shadow, and it warms her heart to see him finally receive the life he deserves.

“Now he’s just learning to be a dog. He didn’t even know what a bed was, or what a toy was.”

“But once I adopted him, it was like he thought, ‘I think I might be home now’ – he laid on his back on my bed and cycled his legs in the air. He was happy.”

For Di, it’s her ongoing love of animals, and her desire to help those just like Casper, that makes her want to give all she can to support the work of RSPCA.

“My dogs mean everything to me. It’s as simple as that,” she says.

“Being able to help so many dogs, and of course other animals in need, through my ongoing donations to RSPCA has just been such a positive experience.”

In addition to her continued support of RSPCA’s work for well over a decade, Di is proud to have left a gift to our charity in her Will.

“When I go, it just feels good knowing that I can continue to look after RSPCA and the animals they help. I think more people should have that mindset.”

“To be happy, I really think you’ve got to give to what you love. For me, that’s animals.”

When Di’s husband sadly passed away five years ago, she knew how important it was to honour his memory and his love for animals.

“Like me, my husband was such a huge animal lover, and I knew I had a responsibility to do something good with the money he left me. I thought, who better to share it with than RSPCA? So, in his memory, I funded the ‘Biggles’ community bus,” Di shares.

In honour of Di’s husband, Graeme’s memory, this community bus enables essential shelter services and effective transit between RSPCA South Australia sites.

And through Di’s continued support of RSPCA – she continues to honour her husband’s love for animals.

“To be happy, I really think you’ve got to give to what you love. For me and my husband, that’s animals. The best way I can help RSPCA and the animals they help is to donate what I can.”

“If you can – if you have money left over and if you love animals – I encourage you to leave it to RSPCA.”

Having supported RSPCA South Australia for so long, Di barely even gave a second thought to her decision to remember our animal charity in her Will.

“When I was doing my Will years ago, my lawyer asked if I wanted to leave a gift to any charities. RSPCA was the one that immediately came to mind. The lawyer even agreed!”

So why RSPCA?

“I know the money I’m leaving to RSPCA is going to a good place. I know it will be used wisely, to help animals in need,” Di tells us.

“RSPCA has proven over time that they are worth leaving money to. They prove themselves over and over again.

“I just really admire RSPCA and what they do. The animal cruelty you witness on a daily basis. I couldn’t do it. The only way I can help is to leave a gift in my Will.”

Di’s deep love for animals and her desire to help them by funding their care is so strong that she hopes others can consider giving what they can to help. And for animal lovers like herself, Di has an important message.

“If you can – if you have money left over and if you love animals – I encourage you to leave it to RSPCA because they just do such a wonderful job.”

A lasting impact on the lives of SA’s most in-need animals

As they always have for Di, animals provide comfort to all of us.

They’re there when no one else is. They don’t judge, they don’t criticise. They offer us unconditional love – and they rely on us to be their voice.

The love humans feel for their animal companions is like no other. When they’re in trouble or distress, we naturally want to help them in any way we can. And there’s a beautiful way we can continue helping animals even once we pass.

As a charity 91% funded by community donations, at RSPCA South Australia we can only continue saving vulnerable animals and championing animal welfare through the generosity of our supporters.

Without people remembering RSPCA South Australia in their Will, we simply would not be able to care for the thousands of animals who desperately need us every year.

Any support you can provide through a gift makes a life-changing difference to the life of an abandoned animal.

Our most dedicated supporters, like Di, choose to remember us with a residual gift in their Will, which helps us care for more animals in the future – and ensures your great love of animals lives on.

“To anyone who is considering remembering RSPCA in their Will but is unsure, I’d say just do it,” says Di.

“Look after your loved ones, but if you’re not sure what to do with any remaining money, leave it to RSPCA and just know it will be put to good use.”

Thank you Di, and thank you to everyone who so generously funds our work of helping SA’s animals in need.

Like Di, have animals given you a better life? If you’d like to leave them a better world, learn more about leaving a gift to RSPCA South Australia in your Will.

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