Wellington SPCA Opening Day

Rau rangatira ma,e huihui nei,tenei aku mihi mahana ki a koutou. Kia ora tatou katoa. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, warm greetings to you all.
I specifically acknowledge Her Worship the Mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade-Brown; Hon Annette King; Ian Torrance and Theresa Gattung, CEO and Chair of the Board of Wellington SPCA respectively.

Thank you for inviting Janine and me here today. As patron of the Royal New Zealand SPCA, I am delighted to be asked to open this new Animal Care, Education and Community Centre and to see the work being done here by the dedicated staff and volunteers.

The philosopher Immanuel Kant once said that we can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. I think it would be fair to say that for the most part, the hearts of New Zealanders are in the right place when it comes to caring for the animals in their lives. For many of us, our pets are family members, looked after and loved to the same degree as the humans they reside with. In the rural sector, working animals and livestock are generally treated with the greatest of care, fed properly and treated humanely.  We are a nation of animal lovers, however as those who work in animal welfare know all too well, this does not apply across the board.  

The reasons animals end up at the Wellington SPCA are many. Some have been abused, some have been given up by their owners due to ill health or financial circumstances, and some have never had a home at all.  The opening of this new centre ensures that the 6,000 animals whose life journey ultimately brings them to the SPCA are now housed in a better environment. There is also more space for the SPCA’s much valued education programmes and veterinary facilities. It is truly a facility to be proud of and a vote of confidence in the ongoing provision of the SPCA’s services to Wellington.

The project has also given a new lease of life to a well-known building. It is great to see a building like this, our old Fever Hospital, upgraded and repurposed for the continuing benefit of the community.

What has been achieved here didn’t happen without enormous amounts of time, effort and resource from a whole host of people and organisations. Here I must acknowledge Wellington SPCA Programme Director Catherine Torrance whose oversight and stewardship has brought the project to fruition. I also acknowledge the role the Wellington City Council has played in the process, making the building available to the SPCA and through that process ensuring building remains a valuable community asset.

It has been a long process for you all but today we are all here to celebrate the end of the one part of the process and the beginning of the next stage. I congratulate everyone who has played a part in the building of this facility and thank you for your advocacy and help for animals. The work you do here is much appreciated and admired.

I’m here today as patron of the RNZSPCA and also as one of the many people who is now owned by an SPCA cat.  Our family has been delighted to share Government House with a certain Ginger Tom of uncertain parentage called Boots.

Boots, sometimes known as “HRH Boots” by the Government House staff, may not have been born to rule but has certainly taken to the role of Vice-Regal Cat as if born to it.

He walks the red carpet with great aplomb, plays favourites with the staff and generally enjoys everything that life in a big house full of people has to offer.  He has developed quite a personality and has even been known to knock on the windows of the Visitors Centre with his paws to make sure that visiting school groups don’t overlook him.

Boots is a one off and I know that our family has been enriched by his presence. Well, that’s what I try to tell myself when I have to make his bed when he wants to go to bed at night (explain) and then wants out of the house at 6.30am in the morning to go and patrol the grounds.  It may be a myth that cats always land on their feet but in a metaphorical sense, Boots certainly has.

I once heard someone say “Saving one animal won’t change the world, but it will change the world for that one animal.”  My family and many hundreds of other families and people around Wellington can testify that it works both ways. Animals change us, enrich us and love us in a way that has no compare. They are a blessing and a joy and in caring for them, we ourselves become better people.

I congratulate the Wellington SPCA on the opening of their new Centre.

Kia ora huihui tātou katoa