Wildlife rescue group that got $60m in donations during bushfires has only distributed $7million and admits it was overwhelmed and ‘loathe to spend’ the money hastily
- Thousands donated a whopping $60million to WIRES bushfire recovery effort
- However volunteers said they have only received $7million in immediate funds
- WIRES said they are also focusing on long term care of the injured wildlife
- A spokesman said the group had no experience dealing with such large funds
Volunteers have slammed the wildlife rescue group WIRES for having distributed a small fraction of the whopping $60 million in donations it received during the bushfire crisis.
Thousands of people donated to the charity due to concerns about koalas and other animals being killed in huge numbers, with their habitats destroyed.
However WIRES has only distributed $7 million, with a spokesman saying it had been overwhelmed by the scale of donations and was ‘loathe to spend’ the money hastily.
Northern New South Wales WIRES volunteer Mairi MacLeod told the ABC her branch has only received $15,000 despite the area being devastated by bushfires back in November.
Thousands of people donated a whopping $60million to the bushfire recovery effort directly to WIRES but volunteers have only seen $7million. Pictured: WIRES volunteers perform surgery in November 2019
‘They like to keep it in the kitty and I can’t comprehend it,’ she said.
An anonymous volunteer said she had not received any money despite having six wombats in her care.
She only recently found out that she was going to be reimbursed for fuel for trips from Cobargo to Eden.
WIRES has provided grants to 51 groups for food, water and medical equipment.
Funding has also gone to the purchase of 26 ICU incubators.
John Grant, a WIRES spokesman, said the organisation was not equipped to deal with the massive influx of cash.
Northern New South Wales WIRES volunteer Mairi MacLeod told the ABC her branch has only received $15,000 after being badly impact by bushfires in November. Pictured: Koalas recovering in Port Macquarie
‘We may have been on the backfoot initially but when you’re an organisation that has to be accountable for every dollar and rely on public money, you’re loathe to spend it initially because you don’t know if it’s going to dry up,’ Mr Grant said.
He said WIRES needed to get approval from NSW Fair Trading before it could forward donations to other organisations for spending on wildlife needs.
Mr Grant also said the public needed to appreciate that donations could not help most animals, as they had been killed – particularly koalas.
‘It broke everyone’s heart and prompted donations from all over the world but unless they were lucky enough to have mildly burnt ears and paws, they likely died,’ he said.
John Grant, a WIRES spokesman, said the organisation was not equipped to deal with the massive influx of cash
He said he understands people wanted the money to be spent straight away by long term care is just as important.
Mr Grant apologised that it wasn’t fast enough for some but animals have never been so impacted by bushfires in Australia and it is ‘uncharted territory’.
WIRES said in a press release on Friday they take the responsibility of the donations ‘extremely seriously’.
The organisation said in a press release on Friday they take the responsibility of the donations ‘extremely seriously’
The wildlife rescue group said the donated money would be allocated in three categories.
Seven million dollars was given to volunteers for immediate relief to care for sick, injured or displaced animals.
More than $25million will go to rehabilitation and relief, which will address the long term welfare of the animals, including research and co-operation with other organisations.
A further $25million is expected to go into risk reduction to prevent a recurrence of the devastating fires.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted WIRES for comment.