A charity that trains working dogs and auctions them off is aiming to raise awareness about country kids who have to spend months away from home at Perth Children's Hospital. The scheme brings together nine Kelpie puppies, their trainers, and sick children to help them cope with being away from their families. This week, they all met for the first time to begin a journey of friendship and recovery.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Charlie Hoskin has had a tough start to life, but Yip Yip, the Kelpie from Calabaran, is
00:10here to help her. At two years old, Charlie was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She's been
00:17battling it for the last eight years.
00:20And then along with her brain tumour, she has a lot of hormonal and metabolic conditions
00:25that come with it. So she spends a lot of time in hospital because of those conditions
00:30as well.
00:31Veteran working dog trainer Gordon Curtis has donated Yip Yip to Kelpies for Kids to
00:37raise money for Telethon. He'll teach the pup how to work sheep until he's ready to
00:42be auctioned at the Perth Royal Show. Over the next nine months, Charlie will visit them
00:47at the farm watching him learn to be a working dog.
00:51Gordon and Yip Yip are part of a group of nine dog trainers who've donated nine puppies,
00:58meeting for the first time nine sick children, most of them country kids, being treated in
01:04Perth Children's Hospital.
01:06We kind of hope with Kelpies for Kids that we can raise the awareness of the extra issues
01:10that they don't get to go home in between treatment because there's not the medical
01:14support services if needed.
01:17Nate Fearnall has spent months in hospital and was a little Telethon star last year.
01:23We see her doing some yard work, see her doing some paddock work. When she's a little bit
01:27older though, at the moment she's just still developing a little bit isn't she?
01:33My family live in Narrogin with my sister and brother-in-law have got quite a large
01:37farm there so Nate and all the kids absolutely love dogs and he's very excited to have a
01:43working dog that he could name.
01:46It's magical to watch the joy that comes from both parties involved, the dog and the
01:53child. It's a bond that is just magical.
01:58The Kelpies for Kids auction will take place again at this year's Perth Royal Show.