Give Our Strays A Chance

Give Our Strays A Chance (Acronym GOSAC) is an organisation founded in 2013 by a West Australian 10-year-old boy Dean Morris,[1] for the purpose of raising awareness of animal rescue and raising donations for animal shelters and pounds.[2]

Hooch in the pound before he was rescued
Give Our Strays A Chance
AbbreviationGOSAC
Established2013
FounderDean Morris
PurposeRaising awareness and donations for animal shelters and animal rescue groups
Location
  • GOSAC Donations Crate at Coles Forest Lakes, Thornlie
Region
Australia
Websitewww.gosac.info

Getting Australian and international businesses on board together with local communities and the media, GOSAC has saved many stray animals and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations.[3][4]

Over holiday seasons, GOSAC assists the homeless feed and care for their pets[5]

As bushfires were raging during summer of 2019,[6] GOSAC collected and delivered medical supplies to Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.[7]

During COVID-19, GOSAC has partnered with ARC (Animal Rescue Cooperative) and Petbarn Foundation to work on the Act Of Kindness project, helping struggling Australian families feed their pets. As local borders closed within Western Australia, GOSAC delivered donations to remote animal rescues who were stranded without supplies.[8] It was named "Operation Narrogin".

Founding

In 2013 Dean Morris rescued his dog "Hooch" from a country pound. Wanting to donate all his savings, Dean made his way to the pound where he encountered the confronting reality of stray animals.[9] Every year over 250,000 cats and dogs are euthanised in Australia,[10] Dean was determined to do something about it. As part of his school project at the Gifted and Talented program, Dean created GOSAC - Give Our Strays A Chance.

Events

GOSAC Day
GOSAC Day 2017 at the Forest Lakes Shopping Centre

A regular GOSAC fundraising event at shopping centres such as Forest Lakes Shopping Centre and Halls Head Central[11] in Western Australia, where the community comes together to raise awareness and donations for the strays.,[12][13]

Kelmscott Show and De Stress Day

GOSAC has been participating in the University of Western Australia's bi-annual De Stress day, where university students have the chance to adopt the strays, donate or volunteer to foster cats and dogs.

The West Australian Kelmscott Show invited GOSAC to take part in their 2017 and 2018 events. All strays were adopted and hundreds of dollars were donated on the day.[14]

Success

What started as a school project quickly snowballed into an award-winning,[15] statewide success story.[16] The community's support grew and with it Dean's ability to save more animals from euthanasia and drastically improve the conditions stray animals were kept at the animal shelters.[17] Within 7 years GOSAC raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and item donations while saving many stray animals' lives.[18][19]

Following the success of GOSAC, schools around the world are drawing inspiration from the young boy's success, teaching students that even kids can make a difference.[20][21] In recognition of Dean's GOSAC work and his substantial contribution to animal welfare in Western Australia, he was appointed as an RSPCA WA Youth Ambassador.[22] Subsequently, Dean has also won the first RSPCA WA Youth State Award for 2018,.[23][24] Dean was a finalist for Channel 7 Young Achiever Award for Community Service and Volunteering as well as Leadership.[25] He was also named a finalist for WA Youth Award.[26] In September 2020, Dean won Matt Keogh's Burt Award for his contribution to Animal Welfare as well as his work in the local and wider community[5] Dean received the Australia Day Young Citizen of the Year Award for 2021[27]

See also

References
  1. Amanda Lewis, "Teen Races To stars", The West Australian, June 28, 2016
  2. Mark Gibson, "Today Tonight", Channel 7, August 4, 2016
  3. Toby Hussey, "The Dean of hearts", The Examiner, August 31, 2017
  4. Geraldine Alphonse, "Dean is giving strays a chance", Gosnells Examiner, November 7, 2019
  5. Geraldine Alphonse, https://view.publitas.com/examiner-newspapers/gosnells-examiner-newspapers-24th-september-2020/page/1 "A True Animal Hero"], The Examiner, September 24th, 2020
  6. Helen Davidson, "Western Australia bushfire out of control", The Guardian, December 14, 2019
  7. "GOSAC donating to Kanyana Wildlife Centre"
  8. Kelly Balaam, "Crisis prompts mission for stray cats", Narrogin Observer, April 30, 2020
  9. Natalie Nazzari, "Give Our Strays A Chance (GOSAC)", Community News, April 27, 2014
  10. Rachel Browne, "Truth about cats and dogs: 250,000 killed every year", The Sydney Morning Herald, June 6, 2010
  11. Carla Hildebrandt, "Halls Head community meets animals seeking a home", Mandurah Mail, January 5, 2019
  12. Ben Smith, "Thornlie teen hosting Give Our Strays a Chance fundraiser", The Comment News, May 2, 2017
  13. Kaylee Meerton, "Impressive teenager hosts stray animal awareness event in Mandurah", Mandurah Mail, November 26, 2018
  14. Toby Hussey, "Strays get a second chance thanks to teen", Examiner Newspapers, October 26, 2017
  15. James Liveris, "Thornlie: Teen’s animal charity gives strays an award winning chance", Comment News, October 5, 2018
  16. Amy Blom, "From saving strays to a space camp", Examiner News Paper, March 31, 2016
  17. Cam Findlay, "Young animal saviour once again on a mission", Examiner Newspapers, May 3, 2018
  18. Toby Hussey, ["The Dean of hearts"], The Examiner, August 31, 2017
  19. Geraldine Alphonse, "Dean is giving strays a chance", Gosnells Examiner, November 7, 2019
  20. Sarah Waters, "Save-a-stray campaign goes global", The Comment News, 29 April 2014, p. 1&3
  21. Dean Morris, "GOSAC - schools", GOSAC Website, January 2018
  22. "Meet Junior Ambassador Dean Morris. ", RSPCA WA, 2018
  23. "LOCAL ANIMAL WELFARE HEROES RECOGNISED BY RSPCA WA", RSPCA WA, October 2018
  24. James Liveris, "Thornlie: Teen’s animal charity gives strays an award winning chance", Comment News, October 5, 2018
  25. Cam Findlay, "Animal hero up to two awards", The Examiner, March 14, 2019
  26. The Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia, "Dean Morris Finalist - WA Youth Awards"
  27. "Examiner Newspapers - Gosnells Examiner Newspapers 28th January 2021 - Page 1". view.publitas.com. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
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