All Tamara wants is a safe home with her beloved dogs

All Tamara wants is a safe place to live with her beloved pets by her side. She’s been a pet owner her entire life.
“My very first pet was a carpet python when I was six,” the South Australian woman tells 9honey.
“My dad was a snake catcher. Then I had a frog, then I had a turtle and then I got a bird.”
Her dad started breeding black German Shepherds at the time, and she adored them all, setting her sights on owning a Dalmatian.
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“I saved up money, started mowing neighbours’ lawns, and when I was about 12 I got my first Dalmatian.”
She called her Dice, and the much-loved pet was with her for 14 years. Tamara, 39, has had others since then and even has a Dalmatian tattoo.
“Dogs are my life,” she explains, adding that it’s not home to her unless she has her dogs with her.
Tamara recently left a relationship and was moved to emergency accommodation with the help of not-for-profit charity Safe Pets Safe Families which works with people and pets in crises to improve outcomes and reduce the occurrence of surrender, animal abuse, neglect and euthanasia.
“So they’ve helped with, obviously, getting me to a safe place and somewhere where I can be with my dogs rather than giving them up,” Tamara explains.
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“But it’s a crisis centre, so the systems only allow you to stay for a short turnover period even if you’ve got nowhere.
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“Basically to have to give up your cat or give up your bird or give up your dog to be able to get a rental property that you can afford until you can get back to work.”
“It’s a vicious cycle and the system’s obviously still got a lot of holes in it. And when you’re going through trauma or leaving an unsafe situation, you need your pets.
“My whole world turned upside down, and not having all the things that I did and all the things that I’ve been able to afford and have through life…
Safe Pets Safe Families volunteers can help with transport, vet visits, food and accommodation while pet owners get back on their feet.
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“It’s ongoing support, they’re amazing,” she says.
Tamara is now searching for a home with her pets and finding it difficult to secure a rental that will allow pets.
She’s been offered temporary accommodation by a Safe Pets Safe Families volunteer however it is located two hours out of the city, making it difficult for Tamara to attend upcoming court dates and to work.
“I haven’t really thought of how long I can stay,” she says.
“You’ve just gotta keep moving and keep jumping and juggling.”
Tamara will do anything “so that my dogs and I are safe.”
Her current pets are Lara, four, and Taite, 11, both of which she bought from breeders.
“My dogs have been in a single room in a shelter for five months and before that other small places,” she says. Tamara has been rejected for multiple rentals, she feels because she has pets.
“And I reckon as soon as I write that down, they reject me for rentals,” she says.
She remains hopeful that there will be light at the end of the tunnel and that throughout it all, her beloved dogs will be safely by her side.
During the month of September the Petstock Foundation will hold its annual Hometown Heroes campaign with the aim to raise $600,000 for local charities across the country, including Safe Pets Safe Families. – the ‘heroes’ who tirelessly support those who need it most. The Petstock Foundation is encouraging Australians to donate at their local Petstock store, round up a purchase or donate online.
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