The model which currently allows regional SPCAs to self-govern may be replaced with a unitary model as soon as next May if the 46 individual centres across the country agree.
RNZSPCA CEO Ric Odom, who has since left the organisation, said the SPCA had been working on a process of bringing all the individual entities into one for the last 18 months.
"If the centres agree we will then take steps to transition from the multiple entities we have now to one with one single board and one management structure."
"We're not quite there yet. You appreciate there's a lot of work to do, but we have a very good mandate and strong mandate from our members and we will be in a position, probably towards the end of May, of going back to our members with a new constitution and a blueprint of how we will operate in the future."
Mr Odom said the unification had not been prompted by any one incident but advantages would include greater financial stability for each centre, with the current smaller autonomous entities often facing financial strife in years when donations take an unexpected dip.