Animal shelter collecting homemade joey pouches to send to Australia

SCITUATE, Mass. — A South Shore, Massachusetts, animal shelter is doing its part to help Australian wildlife devastated by wildfires.

Typically, the Scituate Animal Shelter's focus is on dogs and cats, but last week, staffers added helping kangaroos to their list.

"We knew if we put some type of call out for help, our supporters would come through, which is exactly what happened," said executive director MaryAnn Regan.

The shelter began collecting handmade joey pouches for baby kangaroos who have lost their mothers to devastating Australian brush fires.

The joeys spend nine months in their mother’s pouches. “They are essential for the developmental purposes, absolutely essential,” said Regan.

The handmade pouches come in all different versions, some even have a strap for rescue workers to wear while carrying the baby kangaroos.

The shelter has already shipped out more than 200 joey pouches to Australia, all of them sewed by people in the community.

“They came from all over Massachusetts, locally, South Shore, and beyond,” said Regan. “It’s just horrible to watch. Entire species have almost been wiped out from what I understand. When something bad happens to this level of animals I think we’re all responsible for helping and we’re glad to do it.”