Dogs And Puppies Plead “Rescue Me”

MEDIA RELEASE 20 JULY 2011

Dogs And Puppies Plead “Rescue Me”

If you or someone you know has been considering welcoming a canine companion into the family, now is the perfect time. This weekend (July 23-24) Auckland SPCA is holding a special “Rescue Me” themed weekend to deal with an unprecedented number of dogs and puppies.

Over the weekend, the adoption fee for dogs will be discounted by 50% in the hope of finding “forever homes” for as many of them as possible. The fee covers vaccinating, microchipping and desexing all dogs and this weekend will be as low as $50 for senior dogs.

Auckland SPCA’s marketing manager Martin McKenzie says that in the past the SPCA has typically avoided these types of “sales”, as they haven’t wanted to encourage people to adopt dogs simply because they were cheap. However, he says, at this point they are left with no choice.

“Not only are dog numbers up, but adoptions are decreasing. Last weekend, Auckland SPCA had 161 dogs on the site, of which around 59 were available for adoption right now, and 20 of which are puppies,” he says.

“The kennels are full and some of the dogs have been there for months. However, only three dogs were adopted over the weekend. Sadly, it’s becoming a major problem.”

He says the wet weather, the economic climate, and lack of desexing pet dogs are all contributing factors to the high numbers of surrendered dogs and low numbers of adoptions. Financial donations are also down due to “donor fatigue” after the Christchurch earthquake.

The SPCA has held similar “special” weekends in the past for cats, which have all been hugely successful, with over half the cats available adopted out in most cases.

Mr Mackenzie says the SPCA will always accept surrendered animals, but it wants to encourage people to find a way to keep their pets in tough economic times by cutting back on other things. It also strongly encourages owners to desex their pets to avoid large numbers of surrendered puppies. The organisation is always in need of monetary donations so if you are unable to assist by adopting please contribute by donating much needed funds.

Visit SPCA Auckland's Animal Village at 50 Westney Rd, Mangere, phone 256-7310 or go to www.spca.org.nz for more information.

ends

© Scoop Media