“ We understand the horrible impact of domestic and family violence but sometimes we forget the importance of joy for a child even in that crisis, that a dog is able to bring so much joy to a child who is experiencing the complete decimation of their family. Usually it’s the mother who’s having to sort out schooling, accommodation, just having to get through every day but the dog is able to jump up and lick the tears of the child’s face. A dog can absorb so much of that load, it can bring the silliness, the playfulness, the living dress up dog. There isn’t a day where my dogs haven’t made me laugh, even when they’re being really naughty. Joy is so important to bring meaning to life, especially in the hard times.
I’ve heard people experiencing homelessness after domestic violence crisis and they have nothing left but their dog. Knowing they have to get up and walk and feed their dog is the thing that keeps them going, that’s their reason to be. We can’t ever afford to lose the message of appreciation and joy, it’s so important to preserve bonds of love and the potential for happiness and a sense that life is worth living.
I’d really like to reach out to the community if anyone would like to partner with us to raise some funds. Lucy’s Project is a national organisation and I’d really like to organise a charity dog walk, perhaps do a trial run here in Lismore. I’d like to nut out some ideas with the community on how this would look. Maybe people could walk the neighbours dog for a fee and donate the money. Another way that might be a beautiful way to highlight our town is to do a circuit track walk where you can be sponsored or have an entry fee ending with a fair. If it’s successful we could recreate that in other towns to raise awareness.
Lucy’s project has four core objectives. We call those CARE. That’s C for Collaboration. It’s really important for us to bring people together, working with others to create effective and permanent change. A is for Advocacy, speaking up for people with animals, experiencing domestic and family violence. We are the only organisations who advocate for people and animals simultaneously. Then there’s Research, researching the incidents and the effectiveness of what we do. E is for Education. We have an education program that has gone out to Veterinarians, to legal professionals, to social and frontline workers, to Police, etc. It’s probably been one of our most successful programs because it really empowers people.
We were lucky to receive Government funding in 2023 which is now expended so now we are wholly reliant on community and other donations. It has been community who have supported and carried us through this and who will. Small donations have such a big impact.
A story I have been reflecting on recently and is actually quite emotional is, at Lucy’s funeral I was taking a quiet moment by myself at the wake and I overheard a conversation. A bunch of Lawyers whom I didn’t know very well were mocking me, saying that there was no link between DV and animal abuse, it’s because I was grieving and it was because I was a raving animal activist trying to stir up trouble. I had asked for donations in lieu of flowers to kickstart the organisation but only really a few people took me seriously, even at her funeral. In that moment I felt so unsupported and that I had no-one on my side but I didn’t give up.
After the funeral I put my hand up online to say I’d like to start raising awareness of this cause and bring people together who cared about the cause and suddenly there were all these people who felt like me, all these people who were ready to form a movement who had felt so alone and isolated, finally we had a central meeting point. We had our first conference a year later in Byron, people came from every state and said this is history being made, this moment now is where we start a movement. 2 years after that I organised an international conference bringing professionals from around the world to teach us how to advance the movement. I won the Lismore Citizen of the Year award in 2017 for my work. 11 years after we started, I received a call from a colleague in the United States wanting us to explain how we’d been so successful in this movement here in Australia! We really took off, from our start when no one had heard about the cause to a National charity and broad awareness of the link between DV and animals. Every state now has at least some legislation that protects animals experiencing domestic violence, which did not exist when we first started. The awareness is now national. although we have so much more work to do. During that time I got so tired, I also grew my family and had health issues but nothing would make me quit.
So much has changed over the last 10 years. I was quite public about the loss of my horses two years ago to Cestrum Nocturnum poisoning. It’s a weed which has really taken off in this region since the floods. It’s a beautiful smelling plant that I think escaped from a nursery. It was planted around BBQ areas because at night time it would bloom and smell so pretty. It’s also known as night flowering Jasmine and it’s closely related to the deadly Green Cestrum. It’s a killer with no antidote. Losing my horses so suddenly, I had no warning. I said goodnight to them at 10 pm and they were both cold at 5am. There was no sickness, no signs, they were healthy and then they were dead. They say with Cestrum that they die with grass in their mouth. That was a major earthquake in my life and I didn’t cope very well. I had to step back from a lot of operations work at Lucy’s Project. I don’t think that unless you have really loved an animal you could understand. They were my family and one in particular was my soulmate. I still remember the feeling, just to look at him was euphoric, the thrill that I was alive and he was alive and we were alive at the same point in history. If I was having a bad day my then partner would often say, go and talk to Joey. I’d come back inside and he’d say, What did Joey say? I’d say I don’t remember, I’m just happy now. When he died I had to face all my own problems that I’d swept under the rug. Let alone support my kids who had lost their pony and special mate. I miss Midnight so much too, but I can’t talk about it all because it’s all so much.
One of the things I did was step back from being CEO of Lucy’s Project. I’d always wanted someone better than me to step into that role and to own it.Charities that depend on their founder can be weak- if the founder runs out of steam or has to step down for some reason, they fail and I wanted Lucy’s Project to be stronger than just me. I wanted another strong leader to take the reins. I was so lucky one of the board members offered to step up and give me three months leave. As I watched Monique in that role I realised one of my dreams was coming true. When it came to the end of that three months I knew I’d found the right person to lead. I was so lucky she wanted to stay on and I could step back and watch the organisation grow even more. I’m so happy in my role as founder with such an amazing team beside me.
I love this town. If our spirit can’t be killed after two of the biggest floods a month apart, it’s going to take a lot more than devastation to ruin it! We are a resilient bunch and we’re going to persist no matter what. That’s what we do. Our strength is in the way we come together for each other.”
If you’d like to donate to Lucy’s Project you can click on the link in the website.