Life loving animals

KAREN Pohlner can’t remember her life without animal activism.

“I’ve always been an animal lover, even as a child. I would always be bringing home the injured bird, or the little duckling, or the stray cat. I’ve always rescued and looked after animals as a volunteer,” she said.

Taking in an array of injured or vulnerable wildlife as a foster carer, around 20 years ago she spotted a niche in the market.

“Back when I started there weren’t any major organisations and it was all word of mouth. As time went on and more people were calling, and I was getting more animals in, it became apparent it was going to be very difficult to keep up the vet costs, feed costs and all the rest of it on my own.”

People began offering small donations.

“I didn’t feel comfortable taking the money, so a friend of mine who’s an accountant helped me through the process of becoming a registered not-for-profit and helped me get DGR status, so I can accept tax deductible donations,” she said.

Knowing there were grants available that she could be eligible for, Ms Pohlner became incorporated and her animal sanctuary strengthened organically.

Named Wala, which means ‘life’ in an African dialect, the charity has its own board of directors, but most of the work is done by Ms Pohlner with the help of volunteers. She said some days are fulfilling but caring for animals is a difficult vocation.

“It’s emotionally taxing, and I find that the more I do it, you never ever get immune to the feeling. There’s more tragedy than the good.

“I couldn’t tell you how many kangaroos, over 23 or something years, that I’ve looked after that we’ve had to euthanise. Every day it’s like the first time. It just breaks your heart,” Ms Pohlner said.

The beloved pets of families fleeing violence, or the homeless, and the companions of terminally ill people sometimes find refuge at Wala too, but the breadth of Ms Pohlner’s challenges stretches further.

“Then there are cruelty cases,” she said. “The heartlessness of people, that affects me. The countless phone calls from people who ring me in distress, and I can’t be distressed, I have to be the strong person and tell them that I will fix the problem, then I go home and fall apart.”

As a sole volunteer, Ms Pohlner doesn’t receive as much emotional support as she really needs, but she said special moments do come which help her through the fog of sadness.

“When you can release an animal back to the wild, that’s a pretty magical experience. It’s a privilege,” she said.  “I can have a joey for up to three years. It changes daily, and you have an animal that is so reliant and dependent on you, and the final goal is that they no longer need to be dependent.

“That’s a transition, and if you do that right and they go off into the wild and can survive on their own, you know your job’s done. So that’s satisfying.”

Ms Pohlner asks any individuals, families or community groups looking for a charity to support to head to wala.org.au to find out more or donate.

She also needs to update her infrastructure. Any handy people willing to donate their time and labour to build permanent shelters and yards would be greatly appreciated. Contact [email protected].