Winter is coming and it's not going to be pleasant for the dogs at K9 Dog Rescue without urgently needed upgrades to the facility.
The flood of surrendered dogs due to the housing crisis is putting the facility under extreme pressure to house as many animals as possible.
Although licensed for 40 dogs, president Jake King said they can only humanely accommodate 18.
"We've got old kennels we weren't going to use anymore because they're unsafe and leaking, but we've decided we have to try and fix them," Mr King said.
"I don't want to put them [the dogs] in there, but it's still better than the pound."
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He said at the moment the group was trying to fix the kennels themselves, but with limited building skills, time and money, it wasn't easy.
There is also a yard, which according to Mr King is "totally falling apart and rusted" but if repaired could be used for exercise and showing the dogs to prospective 'parents', or even as a sensory garden if there was some grass.
"We could get them [the dogs] out more regularly," Mr King said. "And if we could get the kennels repaired they would have more protection through the colder months and in the summer."
The welfare of the animals always comes first in Mr King's books, but being short of funds and volunteers is an ongoing problem.
"It's like a game of chess, trying to move all the right pieces at the right time," he said.
"My partner and I go and fill in when there are gaps but I work full-time in the navy, so it's just every spare minute when I'm not working. We don't want to exhaust the great volunteers we already have, so we do as much as we can."
Mr King said they had someone working on grants but hadn't had any luck so far.
"We're really hoping the community can help out," he said.
"Maybe there are tradies out there who could volunteer their time or other people who can help. We don't really know what else to do, so we're just putting it out there.
"It's all about the animals in the end. Saving those dogs and seeing them go to a loving home makes it all worthwhile. I wouldn't want to do anything else," he confided.
To volunteer or donate go to k9dogrescue.org.au or the group's Facebook page.
K9 will also be holding a sausage sizzle at Mandurah Bunnings on May 29 to raise much-needed funds.
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