John is a member of Friends of Wingecarribee Animal Shelter (FOWAS) and a regular volunteer, picking up donated cat and dog food from supermarkets.

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He and his wife also happen to be the proud owners of three former residents.

Seven years ago, when John first met the German Shepperd Wilfred, the Shelter largely favoured a euthanasia policy.

Having walked the dog for some time, John leapt at the opportunity to give him a new home.

"There was a German Shepherd there that had been chained up 24/7 for its first two years," he told the Southern Highland News.

"It was in horrendous shape and it had actually been in the shelter for over six months and it had gotten to the stage where it was like it had been in prison for a long time.

"The Shelter wasn't in very good shape staff-wise and at that stage of the game the Council were a bit anti-shelter so they had a euthanasia policy back then.

"I was told the dog was going to be euthanised so I started walking him and found that he could be a good dog so I ended up adopting him.

"He was in very bad shape physically and mentally, we had him on antibiotics for about 12 months and even still now we have to be very careful of what we feed him....he's nine years old now and he's turned out to be a really lovely dog, he's a big pussy cat."

In addition to Wilfred, John and his wife have also adopted Addicus the three-legged cat and Brooky, a kitten who was recently abandoned.

"We've also adopted a three-legged cat that was there for three or four months and nobody wanted to adopt a three-legged cat so we brought him home," John explained.

"He's probably 14-15 years old and still in pretty good shape. We also have a kitten who was dumped underneath a bulldozer and she's still in bad shape but a lovely little cat."

With Covid-19 prompting a wave of pet ownership, John is urging locals to consider adopting first as a way of ensuring all animals receive the love and care they need.

"There are some good breeders but there are some very, very poor breeders who treat their animals very badly," he said.

"I'd rather see somebody who wants an animal to go out and rescue one rather than buy one from a breeder."

To learn more about FOWAS click here while the Animal Shelter has a list of available adoptions here.

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