SPCA is calling on animal lovers who’ve been thinking about adopting to take advantage of the charity’s half-price adoption campaign starting this weekend.

From 27 January until 4 February, anyone looking to adopt an animal – whether it be a cat, dog, rabbit, guinea pig, or even a goat, horse or pig – can welcome their new companion for half the usual fee.

SPCA hopes the incentive will encourage more adoptions at a time when many of SPCA’s Centres are nearing capacity, as the charity faces a slow-down in adoptions and a busy kitten season.

Nationwide, SPCA currently has over 4,000 animals in its care, including 940 that are available for adoption.

SPCA General Manager Animal Services Dr Corey Regnerus-Kell says the campaign is the perfect opportunity for those who want a companion animal in their life.

“We have thousands of animals in our care and hundreds that are currently waiting to find their forever home. 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,” says Dr Regnerus-Kell. “Our goal is to get as many of these wonderful, deserving animals into homes as possible so they can live the lives they deserve.”

SPCA’s adoption fees are already great value for money, covering just a portion of the actual cost of desexing, vaccinating, worming and flea treatments, and caring for each animal. However, the charity hopes that by discounting the cost for the week-long campaign, it can help get more animals into permanent homes.

“Over the last year we’ve seen a slow-down in adoptions, which means animals are staying in our care longer than usual. This has a significant impact on our Centres’ capacity limits currently,” says Dr Regnerus-Kell. “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.

“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.”

For those who aren’t in a position to make the long-term commitment of owning an animal, the charity is also in need of new foster volunteers to offer a temporary home to animals in need, especially kittens at this time of year.

“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.”

People looking to adopt a pet can browse available animals on SPCA’s website before making an appointment with their local Centre. Keen foster volunteers can sign up to foster via SPCA’s website.

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