Samuel Hastie is only eight years old but already he has a bucket list.
That's because he's terminally ill with muscular dystrophy. But the SPCA has helped him achieve one of his greatest ambitions.
Samuel is happiest when he's around animals. So, thanks to his mum Angela, the SPCA is laying it all on.
"Samuel said that he wants to be a shelter worker when he's older so sort of just making his dreams come true," Angela says.
Samuel suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is terminally ill. But today isn't about that - instead, it's about meeting as many animals as possible.
He's on a full VIP tour of the shelter, meeting all the locals like docs, cats and rabbits. But the main event in his opinion is meeting a blue tongue lizard, Spock.
The whole experience is overwhelming for his mum.
"It means more than anything to make things happen for him," Angela says.
As for the kind staff who showed him the ropes, they're happy to have him.
"It was really cool to be able to help him with that and show him what we do and show him the animals that we have here," says SPCA area manager Rebecca Dobson.
"I think it's really cool that we could give him this experience and tick it off his bucket list," adds customer services team leader Rachel Hawker.
So why does Sam love animals so much?
"They make the key of friendship," he says.
He's not wrong.
The visit is a complete success by Samuel's standards.
"Can we do next week?" he says.
Another dream ticked off the bucket list for this special little boy.
