‘One extra eye and four extra legs’: The HPHH story of Erin and Miffy

Erin Park joined Happy Paws Happy Hearts in September 2022 as our Enrolment Officer. Her passion for helping people and animals sparked a new career path, and she transitioned into the role of Program Trainer in March 2023. 

Born and raised in Brisbane, Queensland, Erin is the oldest of three sisters and had many pets growing up.  

“[We had] dogs of various sizes, guinea pigs, fish and birds. One thing we never had was cats though (I won’t name which parent is not a cat person!),” Erin says. 

While job-hunting, Erin kept her fingers crossed for an opening at RSPCA Wacol, or anywhere related to animals. She hoped to find something combining her admin and human services skills and her passion for animals.  

“When SEEK recommended the Enrolment Officer position at HPHH, I did a quick Google – and I felt an immediate buzz of excitement,” Erin says. 

“I immediately applied, and the rest is history.” 

Speaking of history, Erin says one of her most memorable moments at HPHH involved a sneaky snake, a colleague and a belt loop. 

“I had to cut Sarah’s belt loop to free a (domestic) snake that slithered through and wouldn’t get out!” she says. 

Erin is very creative, joking that her hobby is ‘collecting other hobbies’. To name a few, she has dabbled in sewing, watercolours, crochet, polymer clay, macrame and collage.  

One thing she loves about working at HPHH is that ‘no two days are the same’.  

“I also really like to be creative and try out new ideas with our participants in session,” she says. 

“In what other job can you say that, on a typical day, you might hold a snake, scrub out a horse stable and bathe a bunch of puppies?” 

Erin has met countless beautiful rescue animals in her time at HPHH, but one made it home with her: Miffy. 

Miffy, the French Bulldog, had been attending HPHH for a few weeks as she was under vet care. Everyone at HPHH - staff and participants alike - fell in love with her ‘beautiful social temperament, the best snuggles, her permanent wink and, of course, her wiggly butt!’ 

“It took a little bit of persuading with my partner, and we discussed the pros and cons for a very long time, and we eventually agreed that we wanted to add 4 more legs (and one more eye) to our family,” Erin says. 

“We were initially a bit nervous about introducing her to our resident cats, but things could not have gone smoother. We’ve discovered that Miffy is well-mannered (I’m yet to hear her bark) and likes to try and eat cat food!” 

Miffy loves coming back to HPHH Wacol regularly, joining in session and hanging out in the office with the staff. Miffy is our favourite doggo pirate around.  

Pictured: Miffy sitting in a trolley at Bunnings

If you’d like to adopt a rescue animal like Miffy from the RSPCA Wacol, please visit the Adoptapet section of the website here.