Australia’s hardest working dog could be out of a home
He was cronwed Australia’s top working dog last year, but now three-year-old border collie Duke and his family could be out of a home.
By her own admission, single mum Beck Smith is “not someone who asks for help”.
In fact, aside from her pack of working dogs – including three-year-old border collie Duke – she manages a 53,000-hectare cattle station near Stonehenge in Queensland’s channel country alone.
And she thrives there.
In October last year, her dog Duke was crowned the winner of the Cobber Challenge, which uses GPS collars to track the distance, speed and hours clocked up by farm dogs around Australia as they work livestock.
He was awarded the title after he was recorded covering 556km in three weeks’ work.
But last week, a visit from a property agent changed everything.
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“The agent came out to start getting things ready to sell the property,” Smith explained.
“I’m not part of any of it. I don’t get a say. I don’t get details. I just have to accept that this part of my life is ending, whether I’m ready or not.
“The place is going to auction in June, which means we have to be gone by then.”
In a desperate bid to secure the future of her son, dogs and “zoo crew” – the goats, cattle, poddy calves, ducks, geese and a muster cat named Mango who keep her company as she manages the farm alone – Smith has launched a GoFundMe.
“I hate this … I feel embarrassed even putting it out there.
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“But I don’t have another option right now. I need help.”
With temporary accommodation and agistment for her cattle arranged, Smith is seeking donations to pay for a shipping container to move and store her belongings.
“Right now I’ve got a whole house full of our life and nowhere to put it. No way to move it. We urgently need a shipping container just to store everything safely while we transition, and I don’t have the means to make that happen.”
Since it was launched three days ago, Smith’s fundraiser has raised more than $8000.
But it’s still short of her $12,000 target.
“I am also a single mum, doing this on my own, while trying to keep up with boarding school fees and everything else that comes with it … it all just keeps piling up at the worst possible time,” Smith said.
“I’m just trying to get my son, myself and our animals through this.
“If you can help, thank you. Truly.
“And if you can’t, even just sharing this means more than you probably realise.”
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