February 14, 2014
Love can be an amazing force for good … even when that love comes in the shape of four paws, a wet snout and a wagging tail.
Meet Jodie. She’s a (roughly) four-year-old bitzer. There’s obviously border collie in there and maybe kelpie. But the main thing is, she’s a survivor.
Council workers found her dumped in a skip bin at the Home Creek transfer station last year and brought her to the Kingaroy RSPCA.
No one knows how long she was in the bin but it was obvious why the working dog had been dumped. She was very, very pregnant.
“She was huge when she came in,” RSPCA employee Stef Gavioli recalled.
Jodie was sent out to a foster home where she had her pups – all nine of them.
After a few weeks, the mum and pups came back to the RSPCA Shelter. By the end of 10 weeks, all the puppies had been adopted which just left Jodie looking for a fur-ever home.
After more than 150 days, Jodie was still waiting to be re-homed but by this stage all the staff members at the Kingaroy Shelter had become very attached to her, and for good reason.
Despite everything Jodie had gone through – the pain, the abandonment by her owners, the cruelty – she was full of love for everyone around her. She also had a very gentle temperament for a working dog. She even got on with the office cat, Victor!
So the decision was made for Jodie to become the official Shelter Dog. She was desexed, microchipped, registered with Council and adopted by the RSPCA.
Jodie now had a new home, and a new role … accompanying RSPCA staff on outings and public awareness events.
This could be the end of the story, but it isn’t.
Jodie also had a gift to share back. One that touched the heart of Stef Gavioli.
As Stef says: “Every once in a while a dog enters your life and changes everything”.
“This dog has a very large piece if my heart,” she told southburnett.com.au this week.
“She’s taught me so much. I was shocked when she waddled in at work and was so friendly despite everything that had happened to her.
“She has never shown any nastiness. She’s just so gentle and happy to be around us.”
Stef admits she wasn’t in the best of places when Jodie came into her life.
But Jodie helped change all this. She inspired Stef and now she wants to share that gift.
As she wrote on Tumblr:
“My beautiful girl put my broken pieces in a semi-formed shape, and pulled me out of a dark and twisty place… I want to change the world for animals. And I will. This is only the start, I promise you that. But for now, I hope if you took the time to read this book you understand why I will spend the rest of my days fighting harder and doing better for the fur kids in our care and those in other shelters around the world.”
This is a personal quest for Stef. It has nothing to do with the RSPCA. It is all about “paying it forward” to the animal attendants, shelter staff, volunteers and “furries” in shelters everywhere.
Before Christmas, Stef put up a “Jodie’s Gift” post on her personal Facebook page and the reaction was incredible.
The Kingaroy RSPCA was overwhelmed with donations and gifts… dog and cat treats, toys and food.
“We went from a tub full of toys at the Shelter to three or four large containers full of toys, just from one Facebook post before Christmas,” Stef said.
But it didn’t stop there… even shelters overseas received gifts as “Jodie’s Gift” was shared via social media. On Stef’s Facebook page there is an incredible photo of gifts that flowed into a shelter in Vienna.
Stef has set up a Tumblr blog to share the love with the world and to make a difference.
“I just want people to get into that page and read it and find out what it’s all about,” Stef said.
Jodie received the gift of a new life from the RSPCA and the staff at the Kingaroy Shelter.
Now that gift is being shared all over the world.
The last word goes to Stef:
Jodie’s Gift is about making a difference. Help me make that difference. Help Jodie leave her print on other shelters. Share our page, drop toys, food, treats to your local shelter if you can. Be the change. Be apart of our change. We can’t do it without you.
