{"id":198220,"date":"2017-12-15T19:08:52","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T09:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=198220"},"modified":"2020-08-09T14:58:09","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T04:58:09","slug":"wildlife-ambulance-hits-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/12\/15\/wildlife-ambulance-hits-streets\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife Ambulance Hits Streets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Dingo” Simon Stretton with the South Burnett Educational Wildlife Support Group Inc’s new van<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 15, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Dingo” Simon’s fundraising to buy a “wildlife ambulance” has paid off, with the South Burnett Educational Wildlife Support Group Inc now the proud owner of a modern Mercedes van.<\/p>\n

Simon Stretton, from the Durong Dingo Sanctuary, has been called on four times over the past 12 months to relocate native wildlife – including dingoes – to registered sanctuaries or zoos.<\/p>\n

These trips have included one to Victoria, and another to take a nine-month-old dingo pup that had been fostered illegally as a pet in western Queensland from a Council pound to a sanctuary in NSW.<\/p>\n

The vehicle he had been using, a 2001 model Sprinter, was proving too expensive to run and was also mechanically unreliable.<\/p>\n

South Burnett Educational Wildlife Support Group launched a GoFundMe page earlier this year and Simon began the hunt for a new vehicle.<\/p>\n

The answer came in the form of a secondhand 2007 Mercedes ambulance at a government auction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Simon is now fitting out the vehicle for animal transportation and has had dramatic graphics placed along the side.<\/p>\n

As well as emergency transport, he will also use the vehicle when he is taking Dingo Sanctuary animals to school displays or shows.<\/p>\n

“I am hoping to get out to one school a month,” he said.<\/p>\n