Dog rescue shelter Pound Patrol in Bringelly, Sydney forced to close as interest rate hikes hit hard

• Pound Patrol dog shelter forced to close
• Says interest rate hikes have crippled it 

A not-for-profit dog shelter in Sydney has been forced to close its doors after it was devastated by repeated interest rate hikes. 

Pound Patrol in Bringelly, western Sydney, was opened by Lisa Younes after she had spent 13 years rescuing dogs before they were euthanised.

However, Ms Younes says the repeated recent interest rate hikes have made it impossible to keep up with demand.

‘It’s never been as bad as it is today, there’s always a struggle with rescues because we rely solely on donations,’ she told 9news.com.au.

‘It’s a money situation, people aren’t in a financial position to donate anything spare.

‘We are finding it really tough to pay back our kennel rent, pay the vet bills, vaccinate and desex, so we are really in a tough position.’

Pound Patrol charges between $250 and $300 per dog. 

However, Ms Younes says that their costs per dog are far higher.

‘Some dogs cost us up to $1000, we’ve got dogs here that we can’t move or adopt out because council pounds are doing $40 adoptions, we simply can’t afford that,’ she said.

Ms Younes says people aren’t willing to pay the higher fees that not-for-profit shelters are forced to ask for to survive. 

‘We can’t climb out of the hole, we have pregnant mums coming in all the time, or they get pregnant in the pound,’ she said.

‘Our main problem at the moment is there are so many dogs in pounds, that has been a massive pressure on us as well.

‘Until they bring in mandatory desexing, the dog population will just keep getting bigger and bigger.’

Taking to Facebook, Pound Patrol announced it had to close its doors this week.

‘Our kennels are full, and our bank account is completely dry,’ it said.

‘Our vet bills are through the roof and we have no money to pay for them, Pound Patrol will be closing its doors until further notice.’