About Us

We love animals!

Beagle Freedom Australia was officially launched in 2013, but we’ve been rehoming beagles and hounds since the early 2000’s through our parent group Beagle Rescue Victoria. Yes, we are based in Victoria, but we work Australia wide. 

Our team is entirely made up of volunteers. We work solely for the animals. We don’t take holidays, we don’t go away for the weekend, we don’t go home at 5.30pm and switch off. We do what we do, all the time – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. 

We have many helpers behind the scenes, we couldn’t do what we do if it wasn’t for our amazing and dedicated team. We are lucky to have them and count our blessings every day!

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animal Nerds

Meet Our Team

NIKKI STEENDAM

President, Co-FOUNDER

Nikki got her first beagle as a puppy in 2007. Adopting her 2nd beagle in late 2008, and her third in 2011, she was hooked. Very quickly she became involved in all facets of rescue. Completing Certificate III in Dog Behaviour and Training with The National Dog Trainers Federation (NDTF) in 2015, she has helped rehome thousands of beagles, hounds and other dog breeds. She has helped launch Beagle Freedom Australia in 2013 and with that, found a passion in helping the shy, scared or timid dogs to find their confidence.

TAM BURKE

DIRECTOR, CO-FOUNDER

Tam got her first beagle Charlie in 2004, she has been quoted as saying “he broke me… spiritually, mentally, financially and emotionally!” She got her second beagle Hamish soon after. Together they prepared her for a lifetime of dedication to the breed. Rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming beagles since early in the 2000’s, what Tam doesn’t know about beagles and scent hounds isn’t worth knowing! Tam has an uncanny ability to match the perfect family to the perfect animal – it’s a finely tuned skill.

 

HANNAH LEVIN

Cat Co-ordinator, Guru

Hannah Levin is a cat guru. She is a qualified vet nurse and has been volunteering with Beagle Freedom Australia since it was launched. Always ready to lend a hand in any capacity, she truly has a heart of gold. She is many things including a hound Mum, a foster carer, a friend and of course, our cat Co-ordinator. She’s been fostering and looking after cats for over 10 years and knows all there is to know about finding that perfect match between human and cat.

KRISTAL FORBES

All Rounder

Kristal has been rehoming special needs animals of all kinds for over a decade. She’s been volunteering her time with BFA since before it was launched in 2013! She helps with every possible facet, from long road trips to collect new animals, to spreading awareness and absolutely everything in between. She is part of our extended family and loves our animals as if they were her very own. We are grateful and lucky to have such an amazing friend. 

What do you

How does it all work?

Everything we do, we do because we love animals. We spend a lot of time setting up meetings, phone calls and conferences with research facilities. Because rehoming is still a voluntary practice here is Australia, we really have to convince the facility managers to place their trust in us to rehome their animals. 

We’ve been rehoming animals for nearly 20 years from all kinds of backgrounds. We have a lot of experience and a lot of strict guidelines and processes in place that we’ve fine tuned over the years, this gives us a good advantage.

But it’s still a lot of work behind the scenes to set up relationships with facilities all around Australia.

While adopting a rescue animal isn’t always easy, there’s no better feeling than giving an animal a paw-some new life!

- Fiona

Foster mum, Adopter & Volunteer

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Copyright © 2024 Beagle Freedom Australia. At BFA, we respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and future, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we operate. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on this land and commit to building a brighter future together.