First announced in August 2024, adoption will no longer be facilitated at the McKenzie Rd, Echuca site.
This facility, as of October 1, will have the sole aim of reconnecting animals with their owners, with those needing rehoming to be transferred to partner organisations after eight days.
The opening hours have extended to Monday to Friday from 10am to 4.30pm; Saturday and Sunday from 10am to noon; and on public holidays, aside from Christmas Day, Anzac Day and the Easter long weekend, from 10am to noon.
Pet registration fees have been frozen for the 2025-26 financial year.
There is also a new, free registration class for pets under 12 months old.
Campaspe and River Murray Animal Rehoming members lobbied against the transition from shelter to pound, asking questions at council meetings and creating a petition in 2024 that attracted thousands of signatories.
Volunteer Mairin McCubbin hopes to see positive change on the horizon for local animals despite the closure.
“We’ve been standing up and sending emails into the council over the last 12 months about that, but that decision was made, and we couldn’t change their mind,” she said.
“We did write to them about coming on board with the National Desexing Network, which I have noticed in a couple of the agendas and minutes that they’ve (done) that.
“The draft Domestic Animal Management Plan is finished at the end of this week, so local people need to really get on board that and have another look.”
Ms McCubbin has encouraged residents to submit their suggestions to council through the management plan.
She said CARMAR received an 84Y agreement, referring to the Victorian Domestic Animals Act 1994, but did not have the means to support it.
“The 84Y agreement that they sent us two weeks ago ... specifically states that they will not come on board and pay for any of the desexing, microchipping, or vaccinating costs associated if we were to take any of the animals from the local pound,” Ms McCubbin said.
“Now, as a not-for-profit group, that’s just unsustainable.
“Look, if they were to get a grant or help us at least with the costs of desexing, microchipping and vaccinating those animals, then of course we’d take them as soon as we could as long as we had foster carers available.”
The group, which started in 2017, currently has seven foster carers and always welcomes new people on board to help rehome local cats and dogs.
CARMAR is registered in Victoria and NSW, and has adopted out almost 400 animals, all vaccinated, desexed and microchipped as per Victorian law.
Its services are entirely self-funded.
“All these animals that we’ve taken into care have either been surrendered to us or have been found within the community or have been ... in bad situations and need to be taken out quickly,” Ms McCubbin said.
“All the fundraising we do, we don’t get any grants from the council or from state governments.”
To support CARMAH, including as a foster carer, contact 0447 727 439 or email carmarechuca@yahoo.com
Council’s draft Domestic Animal Management Plan is on show until Friday, October 3.
To find out more, visit campaspe.vic.gov.au/Our-council/Now-open/Draft-Domestic-Animal-Management-Plan-open-for-feedback
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