Meet Gherkin, a mixed breed 6-month-old puppy at the Hamilton centre. She's a fun and adventurous puppy who is a little shy to start with, but she's a treat-lover. Photo / SPCA Hamilton
Meet Gherkin, a mixed breed 6-month-old puppy at the Hamilton centre. She's a fun and adventurous puppy who is a little shy to start with, but she's a treat-lover. Photo / SPCA Hamilton
Kitten season is putting pressure on the SPCA, so it is offering half-price adoptions for all animals to free up space.
There are more than 4000 animals in the care of SPCA nationwide, and the charity has seen a decrease in adoption rates. That meant most centres were at capacity.
SPCA’s general manager for animal services Dr Corey Regnerus-Kell, said they needed to free up centres to be able to care for more animals.
“Over the last year we’ve seen a slowdown in adoptions, which means animals are staying in our care longer than usual, and this has a significant impact on our centres’ capacity limits currently.
Fergie, the female Flemish Giant Rabbit, is ready to be adopted from the Hamilton centre. Fergie's dream is to live with a calm, desexed, and vaccinated male. Photo / SPCA Hamilton
“We hope that by finding permanent homes for the animals that are ready, we can free up some more capacity in our centres for others that desperately need our help every day.”
He said half-price adoption was a perfect opportunity for those who want an animal companion in life.
“We have thousands of animals in our care and hundreds that are currently waiting to find their forever home, and we hope that by offering adoptions at half the usual fee, we can encourage people who’ve been thinking about it for some time to take that step.
“Our goal is to get as many of these wonderful, deserving animals into homes as possible so they can live the lives they deserve.”
Nellie is approximately 1 year and 3 months old, and she is a mixed breed who was brought into the centre after she was found wandering around. Nellie is outgoing, energetic, and loves cuddles. Photo / SPCA Hamilton
There were 940 animals nationwide that ready for adoption - including dogs, cats, goats and pigs, and the charity was also encouraging fostering volunteers to come forward to help during this kitten season.
“Fostering is an incredibly rewarding experience that not only benefits sick and injured animals by giving them a safe and comfortable space to recover, but it means volunteers can reap all the benefits of having a companion animal without the long-term commitment.
“It’s free to foster and SPCA provides all food, bedding, toys and veterinary treatment”, Regnerus-Kell said.
The adoption fees cover a portion of the actual cost of desexing, vaccinating, worming and flea treatments, and caring for each animal.
The charity hopes that the half-price discount for the week-long campaign can help get more animals into their furr-ever homes.
“Every animal in our care deserves a loving forever home, and we want more than anything to help them find this. If you’re thinking about adopting a rescue animal, please do it – it will be one of the best decisions you ever make.”
SPCA’s half-price adoption campaign begins on January 27 to February 4.
People looking to adopt a pet can browse available animals on SPCA’s website before making an appointment with their local centre, and keen foster volunteers can sign up via SPCA’s website.
SPCA is the voice for neglected, abandoned or abused animals in New Zealand, and it is the country’s biggest animal charity with 28 centres nationwide.
