Thinking she would settle into human welfare, Mrs Carson was surprised when an opportunity became available to start an animal welfare non-profit organisation.

Mrs Carson found herself visiting the Mount Isa City Council Pound and re-homing the occasional animal before founding Paws, Hoofs and Claws (PHC) Inc. Mrs Carson now rescues and assists as many animals from Mount Isa and the North West that she can.

“A lot of animals we rescue are pets left in yards while their owners have relocated, animals locked in the pound and poorly neglected animals roaming the streets,” Mrs Carson said.

“These animals are vaccinated, micro-chipped and put in the care of our wonderful foster carers.”

Mrs Carson said it was a difficult job to keep doing.

“To know I have helped the community and these animals, it is the only think that keeps me going. There are times when it is incredibly heartbreaking and incredibly frustrating,” she said.

“It doesn’t seem to matter how hard we work, as fast as we have animals being adopted out of our care we have new animals coming in. It is daunting because we have no more available foster carers and we have to turn down animals.”

PHC service the whole North West and beyond, and has seen about 1500 animal pass through its care.

“We had a plain looking staffy re-homed to Brisbane, little did we know they had a young child with autism. The owners rung us six months later saying they had never heard their child laugh or talk until they had the dog and now they are inseparable. It is stories like these that make the job so rewarding,” Mrs Carson said.

Exceeding the amount of animals in its care, PHC are continually fundraising to buy food and cover vet bills for the animals.

“It is amazing how much the organisation has expanded. Although the higher profile we get, the bigger the demand for help,” Mrs Carson said.

“Ideally our goal is to build a shelter where we can house and care for the animals, but anytime it looks like we can start to afford it larger vet bills come in.

“We couldn’t do what we do without the support of the community including foster carers, people donating and adopting our animals.”

If anyone would like to adopt an animal or make a donation to Paws, Hoofs and Claws, you can contact the organisation through their Facebook page.