You gave to get them home - thank you New Zealand!

On 23 June we held our Give to Get Them Home Day, and our supporters’ life-changing donations were doubled by our incredible friends at The Coffee Club and the amazing partners, who provided the funds to match donations.

Thanks to the generosity of Kiwis around the country, we will now be able to help us transport even MORE animals to their forever homes. These custom-built vehicles provide comfort and safety for so many scared and vulnerable animals.

SPCA Chief Executive Andrea Midgen says the charity relies heavily on the support of New Zealand’s animal lovers to continue its life-saving work.

“I know it’s tough out there for many Kiwis at the moment, which is why we’re even more grateful for the support we received from our communities on 23 June – it just blew us away!” says Ms Midgen.

“SPCA receives less than 5 percent Government funding, which means the cost of caring for the 30,000 animals that come through our doors each year is paid for solely through donations from the public. We can’t thank our supporters enough for their continued generosity, as we simply wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them.

“We’d also like to say a special thank you to our friends at the Coffee Club and other matching partners for pledging to match our community’s support up to the value of $100k - this was an extraordinarily generous commitment. Every dollar we raised makes a huge difference to the lives of Aotearoa’s vulnerable animals.”

There are numerous reasons why transport may be essential for some animals in our care. Sometimes, animals require lifesaving specialist medical procedures not available where they are currently located, or we simply need to free up space in one Centre for an incoming load of animals, meaning we can help more animals in the local community. Sometimes, animals require socialisation only possible at other locations, or need to be rehomed with a special family in another region.

For these reasons and more, our network of Centres work together to achieve the best outcome for each animal. From Kataia to Bluff, we work hard to transport our animals to where they need to be. Just this year, we have been able to transport 3,595 animals - but there are many more waiting for us.

Our transporter vehicles are purpose-built to ensure a safe journey for our vulnerable animals in transit. Transporting animals can be stressful for them, so our vehicles are designed to minimise stress and keep them as comfortable as possible. These vehicles are expensive, but are so needed and will mean our animals get to their forever home as soon as they possibly can.

These will be designed to allow for such things as:

• Separate transportation vehicles for different species (e.g. dogs and cats)
• Removable carriers/pods. Cats and other small animals (i.e. rabbits) must be able to be placed into the carrier prior to transportation to familiarise themselves with the environment. This means the carrier must be large enough to have room for food and water, bedding/hiding box, a litter tray and high enough for the cat to stretch its front paws upwards.
• Excellent insulation (floor, ceiling and walls) for the purposes of sound dampening (road noise and vehicle noise) and temperature control
• Vibration reduction
• Excellent ventilation
• Vehicle interior which is readily able to be cleaned and disinfected
• Vehicle security
• On-board storage, including water

Across our stunning (and hilly) Aotearoa terrain, we help move animals so that they get the best possible chance of finding their forever home – regardless of the location where we first brought them into our care. This will allow animal welfare to be safeguarded during transit to SPCA hubs where a high-quality provision of animal care can be provided.

This kitten (fondly known as Jak) was originally found in Palmerston North, with no mum or littermates and with a severe injury to his paw. It was red, raw, swollen with bone exposed, and while we don’t know how Jak sustained such awful wounds, we suspect he may have got his paw crushed underneath something. It was clear that Jak needed specialist treatment, so our team arranged for him to get transferred from our Palmerston North Centre to the Hospital unit at our Centre in Wellington.

After a few weeks, his paw has made massive improvements, the swelling has gone down, and he’s as lively as ever. Jak is now discharged from the hospital unit and out in foster care with one of our amazing foster families, where we will continue to monitor his progress. Once he recovers, we can find him a new forever home. His relocation would not have been possible without him being transferred for urgent vet care.

Another final THANK YOU to everyone who supports SPCA and helped animals all over New Zealand as part of our Give to Get Them Home day.

We look forward to sharing the progress of our vehicle builds very soon!