The Impact of Your Kindness 2023
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Last updated: 21 Mar, 2023
Published on: 27 Aug, 2019
15 awesome things that happened in the last 15 years
What, we’re 15? Phew, that went by in a flash!
We've been working towards our goal of ensuring that every pet in Australia is safe, respected, and loved while staying at the forefront of this ever-changing technology-driven world. As we get ready to mark another great year for our team, we're proud to say that it's been an epic 15 so far, and we are only getting started.
And what better way to celebrate PetRescue’s 15th birthday than taking you through some of the most memorable moments that made us warm and fuzzy on the inside, and gave us reasons (as if we needed them) to stuff ourselves with lots of party cake.
More than anything else, we’re grateful, overwhelmed, and hella lucky to have been the first point of connection between so many of you and your furry BFFs, while helping create bucket loads of happiness for #TeamRescue for over 15 years! WOW!
Here are all the happy hurrahs (in no particular order) that we give a solid 15/10 ;)
Founding PetRescue & launching the PetRescue website
Throwback to the PetRescue.com.au circa 2004!
PetRescue started with a vision to create a safer future for every pet in Australia. 15 years down the line, with a growing team of dedicated individuals, we’ve steadfastly worked towards making that vision a reality. PetRescue.com.au was launched in 2004 to help every home experience the happiness that a pet brings in just a few short clicks. And boy were we on to something! A nation of pet lovers, Australia embraced the idea with open arms, and we had a whopping 600,000+ pets listed on PetRescue ever since! Click here to read some adoption stories that will melt your heart and make you ugly cry.
Find your BFF in a few short steps!
Backed by our awesome partner Woolworths Pet Insurance, our ambitious Matchmakers project kicked off with the idea of creating an enquiry management system which would bring your bundle of happiness to you faster than you can say woof! As part of the Matchmakers project, we’ve added a whole bunch of features such as adopter profiles, a messaging system, and pet alerts to help streamline the adoption process and provide our members with a faster and more efficient enquiry management system.
PETstock and PetRescue National Pet Adoption Day
PETstock and PetRescue National Pet Adoption Day
Our incredible partnership with PETstock helped us get so many wins for rescue pets, however, a dedicated pet adoption day probably triumphs it all! Thanks to PETstock’s unwavering support, our rescue groups get the opportunity to put their pets up for adoption and promote all the amazing work they do in PETstock stores across the country every year. What started out as in-store adoptions with PETstock in 2009 eventually turned into a full fledged national pet adoption day celebrating pet adoption in the biggest way possible while helping hundreds of rescue pets find wonderful homes every year! Click here to read all about PETstock and PetRescue National Pet Adoption Day 2019.
Vander (or Van for short) from Herd2Homes Dog Rescue was the 500,000th rescue pet to find a new family!
Half a million pets adopted = half a million lives saved + half a million happy adopters.
This is the only kind of math we LOVE.
With over 500,000 pets marked as adopted on PetRescue to date, we can pawsitively say that a better future for rescue pets isn’t a dream anymore, it’s a reality. Thanks to the brilliant efforts of all our member rescue organisations and the support of our partners, the last 15 years have seen a lot of people choosing to adopt a pet on PetRescue rather than shop for one.
The shift towards a pro-adoption culture eventually helped create a demand for rescue pets that outstrips the supply in some states! Also the only kind of economics we LOVE.
The PetRescue Melbourne office putting the team in teamwork!
The best part about being #TeamRescue is watching it grow and create all kinds of magic. We moved into our very first office space in 2015 to bolster a team that helps us support all the free services that we provide to our member rescue organisations. Today with two offices, a rotating roster of silly floofs to keep us happy and loved, and a coffee stock to help us get through the day, we’re pumped and gearing up for a new and exciting phase!
Sweet Ruby was one of the first few Adoptable adoptions of 2019!
A program that we heart for special pets that we heart even more! With the support of our amazing partner, PETstock, The Adoptables campaign was launched to support special needs pets who often find it harder to get adopted. These rescue pets get a little more love in the form of professional photography for their profiles, profile rewrites and social media promotions to give their listings a boost, and free flights to their furever home. Currently, with a special spot on the PetRescue platform and a dedicated strategy, an average of three Adoptables find loving homes every month!
Kevin from Deaf Dogs Rescue flew for free from Melbourne, VIC to Sydney, NSW to be with his perfect new family
Distance shouldn’t be a barrier that keeps you away from a lifetime of love. This is why we partnered with Jetpets and Virgin Airlines to provide a FREE flight service for rescue pets adopted via PetRescue. Not only does this help save lives of at-risk pets who need interstate treatment, but also gives rescue pets a real chance at finding their human.
Our phenomenal partners come on board!
Feeding pets in need with Mars Petcare & PETstock
It’s probably unfair to encapsulate this as just one moment because every awesome partner coming on board was a cause for a legit celebration. Woolworths Pet Insurance, PETstock, Mars Petcare and Pedigree have collaborated with PetRescue on various important projects and campaigns such as food donations and adoption drives, which continue to create tremendous impact for rescue groups and their pets.
We hit 1000 active member groups in 2019!
Halo from one of PetRescue’s member rescue organisations, Greyhound Rescue
Our member organisations are the heart and soul of PetRescue. Their incredible work helps give thousands of rescue pets a new lease on life every year while promoting the importance of rescue. And as of last year, we had an ah-mazing 1000 members in the coup!
Rescue Pets on Hey Hey It’s Saturday!
An adorable rescue doggo at the Hey Hey It’s Saturday taping!
Probably one of the best things to happen ever, on any planet, a few superstar dogs for adoption on PetRescue got to shine on Hey Hey It's Saturday's 'dogwalk' to support the Pedigree Australia Adoption Drive! These doggos showed off their adorable struts down the ramp as host Daryl Somers gave them a big hearty welcome! Watch the clip right here.
Our pawesome CEOs with other winners at the EY Awards 2014!
Our co-founders, JB & Vickie, were recognised at the 2014 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Program, receiving the Social Entrepreneur Award for the Western Region of Australia! Winning one of the most prestigious awards ever didn’t just make 2014 a memorable year, but also made us determined to keep doing what we do!
JD, our first Workplace Foster Care Program pup lands a job!
JD, our first-ever Workplace Foster Care doggo!
Thanks to the efforts of our member rescue group, Forever Friends Animal Rescue, and the awesome team at Vinomofo, our first Workplace Foster Care star, JD, was officially assigned to his first ever job at Vinomofo in 2015. Not only did he steal hearts (and maybe wine but we can’t confirm), he also became quite the celebrity with a Cosmopolitan feature!
Our Workplace Foster Care Program finds a furry foster pet who can bring some joy and love into your workplace while raising awareness of fostering and helping free up space for rescue groups to save even more lives!
Direct donations to our members!
In collaboration with the pawsome pet-loving peeps at Shout for Good, PetRescue members can now receive direct donations thanks to a shiny magenta button on pet profiles. This is a huge win for rescue pets as these donations provide a welcome reprieve for rescue organisations who can use these funds to provide for the pets in their care. Since this beautiful button came into action late 2018, over $18,000 has been directly donated to our members!
Rescue pets put their most fashionable paw forward
They’re furry, fabulous and fashion-paward
One of our most ~trendy~ campaigns to date was our fab collab with iconic Australian fashion label, Gorman. We got some lucky doggos to be the brand ambassadors for the Gorman X PetRescue campaign and had them sport some of the chicest dog coats EVER. The campaign was incredibly successful and our furballs became celebrities overnight with their adorable faces shining across the media!
We relaunched our Safe and Sound Pounds Campaign!
Our safe sound pounds squad talking to current and upcoming rangers
The 15th year marks a new direction for all of us at PetRescue, as we relaunch our Safe and Sound Pounds Campaign to take on the dysfunctional pound problem.
100,000 pets are killed in Australian pounds every year. With a future so uncertain for so many lives, we still have work to do. With this big, hairy and audacious campaign, we’re expanding our focus to stem the flow of the pets that go into the system by advocating for positive changes on a more strategic level and seeking out potential collaborations that can amplify these efforts. Learn more about our next phase right here!
Keen to catch up with everything that happens at PetRescue? Click here to get all the insightful pupdates.
We love hearing your stories and seeing rescued pets living their best lives with their new families. On Instagram posts and stories, be sure to tag us @petrescueau or #petrescue so we can see and share. On Facebook, mention us @PetRescueAU. Or submit your #HappyTail to yourstory@petrescue.org.au.
