A hot summer, dry weather and feed scarcity have put Bendigo Animal Welfare and Community Services under extreme financial pressure.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
President Debbie Edwards said the service had already spent $1000 on water four months into 2019, compared to a total cost of $1500 over the entirety of 2017.
Just 27.4 millimetres of rain fell in Bendigo during the first four months of 2019.
Read more:
April 2019 was the driest April on record since 1955. Just 3.2 millimetres of rain fell in Bendigo.
The service has also been forced to outlay more for animal feed - as its cost rises and it's less reliably available.
At times BAWCS has been unable to buy feed from its wholesaler when supplies ran out, forcing it to stockpile feed.
The Huntly-based service was forced to send a volunteer to Daylesford to buy feed at one point, to see them through until it was next available.
"It's scary, when you've got all these animals that eat that particular feed and you've got none," Ms Edwards said.
"Where we would spread the cost of that over a certain period of time, we've actually had to outlay money for that earlier than what we would have ... in previous years."
Despite having several water tanks the service - which is not on town water - has always had to buy water to meet its needs.
But its water costs rose during 2018, and are showing signs they will be even higher in 2019.
The service paid $1900 in 2018, $400 more than 2017 - a roughly average year for rainfall.
Read more:
Its water cost has already been $1000 during 2019, just one third of the way into the year.
Extremely hot weather during the summer of 2019 meant the service used more water than normal to keep animals cool.
Eight days soared above 40 degrees in January, and 17 above 35.
Hosing down animals, and replacing water which had evaporated from its pig wallows, took more water than normal, Ms Edwards said.
"The welfare of the animals are our priority, and we can't not get water," Ms Edwards said.
"When we had those dramatic 45 degree days we were out there watering down animals, and chicken sheds, and we used so much water with just trying to keep the poultry sheds cool."
High costs have made it hard for the service to care for the animals it has, let alone take on more.
It has been unable to take in animals from those who can no longer afford to feed them, because they are in a similar position.
"We're just managing to feed and care for the animals we have currently, let alone taking on more. It'd be totally irresponsible," Ms Edwards said.
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.