One-year-old Murphy the maremma sheepdog had a rough start to life, surrendered three times by different owners in Newcastle, Sydney and then Canberra. The problem wasn't them or him, but he was kind of a square peg in a round hole.
Domestic Animal Services assistant director Jackie Gardner said mareemas were a breed that needed space to roam and they also had a strong natural instinct for protecting their flock from intruders, which made them excellent livestock guard dogs. Being kept in a suburban backyard was never going to do.
Now, thanks to a cross-continent effort coordinated by Domestic Animal Services in Canberra and West Coast Mareema Rescue in Perth, Murphy is living his best life.
He has been re-homed to Moore River Ranch, a wildlife sanctuary north of Perth, swimming in the dam, playing with his mareema mate Bolt and guarding his new family, from kangaroos to ducks to peacocks.
Ranch owner Lincoln Stewart said Murphy had taken to guarding the animals straight away, on his first night saving a peacock from a fox, with the help of Bolt.
"He's a beautiful dog, too, very friendly," Mr Stewart said.
Murphy's journey to the other side of the country was crowd-funded by West Coast Mareema Rescue after they were contacted by ACT Foster and Rescue in Canberra.
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Mrs Gardner said Murphy (then known as Hugo) was surrendered to DAS by a Canberra family after showing signs of aggression.
"When he first came in he was quite fearful, which was completely understandable, given how displaced he would have been," Mrs Gardner said.
"But within a day or two, he started to come out of his shell and before you know it, he was out in the yards with us, playing around."
Mrs Gardner said DAS was in daily contact with ACT Foster and Rescue, who reached out to West Coast Mareema Rescue.
Within a week, the rescue organisation had crowdfunded enough for Murphy's ticket to Perth and a new life.
Mrs Gardner and another ranger took the dog to Canberra airport in the pre-dawn to get him on the flight and to his new family.
It was the perfect Christmas gift for a very good boy.
"The team at DAS, every single one of us, we love seeing the dogs find their forever home," she said.
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