Celebrating Andrea’s 20-year workiversary!
Rescuing animals from situations of cruelty and neglect is not for the faint-hearted but for Andrea Lewis she was born to champion this role and has been successfully doing so for 20 years at RSPCA South Australia – an outstanding milestone that we’re proudly celebrating this month.
Having always had a passion for animal welfare, Andrea was working as an Animal Management Officer in council when she picked up a dog that was in a bad state due to an extremely ingrown collar.
“It was when I met with an RSPCA SA Inspector to seek support for the dog that I learned about the Inspector role and was immediately intrigued. I joined the Inspectorate team approximately six weeks later and the rest is history,” she recalls.
Having worked her way up from Inspector to Chief Inspector, Andrea is now the Head of Animal Welfare and oversees our Inspectorate, Animal Rescue, and Advocacy teams.
As South Australia’s only animal welfare charity entrusted by State Parliament to investigate animal cruelty under SA’s Animal Welfare Act, our Inspectors play a critical role in the community. Last year alone, they received 4489 cruelty reports and seized 1281 animals, with 28 prosecution cases related to animal welfare finalised. Likewise, our Rescue Team which comprises just three staff and 23 volunteers received 2170 rescue requests and assisted 1700 animals last year.
Image: Andrea assisting with the animal rescue efforts during the 2020 bushfires on Kangaroo Island.
Throughout her rich career, Andrea has seen it all and explains how communication and empathy are important skills to have within this role as every job is different. She regularly has to navigate the delicate human issues that often go hand-in-hand with cases of animal cruelty and neglect.
“Seeing the condition of some of the animals that we come across can be heartbreaking, infuriating, and extremely sad. But it’s also difficult seeing some of the human issues that we encounter around some of the animal cruelty matters such as mental health, family violence, and financial stresses, it can make some of the issues we deal with very complicated to resolve. Communicating with people from all walks of life is challenging and takes a lot of skill and training to be successful at,” she said.
Although this work can be incredibly confronting and mentally taxing at times, it’s also extremely rewarding when an animal receives the justice it deserves explains Andrea.
“I love my role at RSPCA SA! Being able to help animals have a good life has been the big driver for me to continue in this role. Seeing an animal that has come from a neglectful or cruel place be rehabilitated by our big-hearted, amazing team of staff and volunteers and then find a loving forever home is so rewarding. It’s incredibly fulfilling to see the animals in their new homes being loved and adored – it makes the hard stuff a bit easier to deal with.”
Reflecting on her 20-year career at RSPCA, Andrea says building the Inspectorate to a professional investigation and enforcement team is one of her key achievements.
“Knowing that there is a team of dedicated and skilled staff out there doing great things for animal welfare makes me very proud. The results we achieve with such limited resources are a credit to the dedicated inspectors, legal team, and the wider RSPCA team – including animal care staff, vets, foster carers, etc. I work amongst some of the most kind and compassionate animal-loving people at RSPCA and they keep me coming into work every day with a smile on my face and a positive attitude.”
As for key highlights, of course, there are too many to choose from in 20 years, but Andrea is extremely proud that RSPCA SA has not lost a prosecution case in the ten years that she has been Chief Inspector and then Head of Animal Welfare.
“I have also loved playing an instrumental role in the review and changes to the Animal Welfare Act which is still underway. This has been a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make real headway in the animal welfare space to help animals have a better life,” she expressed.
RSPCA SA would like to thank Andrea for 20 years of outstanding service to the organisation and animals in need. Her passion and dedication are an inspiration to all who work with her. Here’s to another 20, Andrea!
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