Give animals Hope this year with the SPCA

We are now coming up to the season of joy and good will towards man but it’s also the kitten season when thousands of animals are dumped at the doors of the SPCA and other animal organisations. Many of these unwanted orphans could have been avoided through desexing.

However not only these unwanted litters but many other sick, injured and helpless animals also pass through the doors of the SPCA on a daily basis. They all need a helping hand and this is where our dedicated team of foster volunteers come in.

By taking on this nurturing role, our foster parents give those animals in need the extra love, care, socialisation, medication and special food they need until they are healthy and ready for adoption. Fostering is very rewarding for the whole family and it is a lifesaver for many animals.

Through the SPCA Auckland most fosters are for between three weeks to three months depending on the animal and its reasons for being fostered. Young kittens go out to foster to put on weight as quickly as possible so that they can move to the next stage of the SPCA cycle – Desexing, microchipping, vaccinations and hopefully adopted into a new loving home.

















Other animals may need longer with the foster family to heal injuries or skin infections and this is where the fosters parents are at their most valuable, providing that one on one love, attention and care that the SPCA can’t continually offer to each individual animal in its care, but is vital to the animal’s recovery.

Some of our more famous animals to be fostered include Job (the sad dog covered in mange and starved), Eve (the dog found on Christmas Eve, locked under an abandoned house and left to die), Bert and Ernie (the two fat foxies on a diet to thin down before they were re-homed) and most recently Pumpkin (an emaciated Mastiff who needed a full blood transfusion to survive). All these animals have now, thanks to their foster parent, been re-homed with loving new families as healthy well balanced animals.

Fostering can also be a nice way to trial whether you’re serious about getting an animal and prepare the family for what’s involved in caring for that new pet.

Volunteers in general are very special people and without them we simply could not cope! They generously donate their time to help us to help the animals in many different ways. At the SPCA Auckland’s Animal Village, volunteers feed, exercise, clean and care for the animals every day – including Christmas Day.

Our fantastic fundraising volunteer teams and their animals are out and about in all areas raising valuable funds through bucket rattling, sausage sizzles, cake stalls and organising and attending events. There are many ways volunteers get involved and we sincerely thank them.

For more information contact (09) 256 7300 or visit us online.

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