How bequests help

You don’t have to own pets to want to leave money to them

In Western Australia recently, a man who didn’t own any pets died, bequeathing his entire estate to the RSPCA.  The proceeds from his three-bedroom home worth more than $250,000 will be put towards saving the lives and ensuring the protection of more animals than would have otherwise been possible.

‘We receive less than four per cent of our funding from the government a year, which I don’t think people realise, and the rest we have to raise ourselves, so these acts of generosity are very much appreciated.’ said Tim Mayne, RSPCA WA’s senior PR manager.

‘This is a wonderful, caring gesture by people who want to help make a difference to the lives of animals and their welfare.’

This isn’t the first case in which a pet-less person has left money or property to support the welfare of animals. Just last year, Sydney dentist Dana Silins left her entire $3 million estate (including property in Fiji and on the Central Coast) to animal welfare groups in order to try and protect the stray cats and dogs she loved so much… but never owned.

‘At her dental surgery she would feed every stray cat that came along, no one would go hungry,’ said Keith Clissold, a former patient of Dr Silins. ‘She didn’t have any family, but everybody knew her.’

Tim Mayne says that without the generosity of people like Dr Silins and other pet-loving citizens, the RSPCA ‘would not be able to care for animals in need without the support of the community.’

Images by kurafire and Kevin Steele