The Impact of your kindness 2020-2021

17 years ago PetRescue started as a digital adoption platform that could connect humans and pets. 

Today, with the support of our generous donors, supporters, partners and incredible member rescue community, the idea of investing in initiatives and programs that bring progressive change to the animal welfare sector is now a reality.

Below is a map of how all the work we do helps achieve outcomes that can lead to our long-term goal.

These initiatives support outcomes that will help us reach our goal of ensuring every pet in Australia is safe, respected, and loved.

Thanks to you we were able to continue our work on these programs and initiatives:

51,907 pets listed on PetRescue found homes with a median time to adoption of 13.5 days

💚  That’s 51,907 pets who have successfully been connected with adopters

There’s no greater joy than seeing an adorable pet find a human who loves them unconditionally. Since starting PetRescue 17 years ago, 700,000 pets have found love! The pets, the humans, the stories, the smiles. PetRescue’s platform continues to create happiness every day.

And two of these lucky pets were littermates, Koko and Lola!

275,788 enquiries were made for pets available for adoption

💚 Listed pets received an average of one enquiry every 2 minutes! 

The adoption platform provides a trusted pathway for potential adopters to view and apply for their perfect pet. Every enquiry on PetRescue is a ray of hope that there’s a human out there willing to open their homes to a pet who needs it the most. 

10,543,483 pet alerts sent to adopter inboxes helped rescue pets be seen!

💚 Ensuring that adopters didn’t miss out on their perfect match.

Even when they aren’t actively searching on our platform, PetRescue is still connecting hopeful adopters to adoptable pets. Every day an average of 28,886 ‘pet alerts’ go out to adopters who have signed up to receive notifications when a pet that matches their criteria becomes available.

6,258,031 pet lovers visited PetRescue.com.au in the last financial year

💚 Which was 8.5% more than the previous year, continuing to make PetRescue the most popular adoption platform in the southern hemisphere. 

With most people turning to PetRescue to help with their search for a pet, rescue organisations can trust they have the best chance to find a home for pets listed.

Making digital adoption the best option 

💚 Huge time-saving features were added to the platform that helped rescue organisations manage pet listings and the enquiry process.

Investing in platform improvements and upgrades helps rescue organisations save valuable volunteer time and bridges the gap between pets and people.

$95,377 directly donated to rescue organisations in need

💚 Empowering these organisations to save more lives.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, PetRescue facilitated over $95,000 in direct donations to our member rescue organisations last year.

280 pets given an extra leg up

💚 Pet profiles that needed a boost were amplified and sprinkled with some marketing magic.

There’s someone for everyone, yet sometimes it takes that little bit extra to find that special someone! So every month, a little bit extra is invested in those pets that have been waiting the longest or been overlooked. And you might have even seen them! These pet profiles were seen by over 1.2 million people after being shared via PetRescue’s monthly newsletter and across social media.

$670,721.57 worth of free pet food delivered to pets in need

💚 Directly helping rescue organisations feed pets in their care, freeing up funds to cover other critical care.

Thanks to our generous partners Mars Petcare and PETstock, we delivered a whopping 67,382.89kgs of food to rescue organisations and community organisations to help pets in need. The PetRescue team managed and coordinated these large-scale donations to ensure food was delivered to pets who needed it the most.

Safe Avon Valley collecting their free food from PETstock

$200,601 worth of dog coats donated to rescue pets

💚 Helping keep 3,122 pets warm.

By teaming up with our friends at Doggone Gorgeous, Ruff N Rugged and PETstock, no doggo was going to feel the cold with  $200,601 worth of dog coats delivered to some of our wonderful PetRescue member rescue organisations as part of the #NoNudePets campaign.

Dapper doggo - Greyhound Rescue

Programs that assist pet owners are helping keep pets out of the rescue system and in safe homes.

Thanks to you, pets and their people were helped through these support programs and initiatives:

Our online helpdesk helped people and pets in need 

💚  Offering a trusted space and experienced team to respond to calls for help.

By providing a help desk team of people experienced in animal welfare, the best possible solutions can be provided for people who turn to us for help. In response to the support required, we created the first stage of a crisis care directory project. With your support, this vital service was able to be expanded to ensure all calls for help could be answered and solutions found to help people and their pets.

Pilot program set to stay

💚 Our Home2Home program is creating a safe alternative for pet owners to rehome their pets and freeing up rescue capacity.

This year our new pet owner support program, Home2Home, filled an important gap in helping rescue groups and owners, giving pet owners the tools and support to safely rehome their pets, and freeing up rescue group capacity to focus on pets who are at risk.

With your support, we will focus on expanding the Home2Home program this year, establishing it as a dedicated and trusted way for pet owners across Australia to rehome their pets. This is an important step forward in ensuring that pets always remain in a safe environment.

One of the lucky pets that was rehomed via this service was Maggie...

The following initiatives can help us achieve our goal of a transformed animal welfare system that protects and cares for vulnerable pets.

Thanks to you we were able to continue our work on these programs and initiatives:

Progressive pounds continue to set up adoption programs with PetRescue

💚 Supporting direct from pound adoption.

Encouraging progressive pounds to sign-up as PetRescue members giving them a free platform to promote impounded pets and get them into safe homes. In a huge step forward for pets in the Port Macquarie area, Port Macquarie Animal Shelter joined in November 2020 and now lists 90% of their unclaimed or surrendered pets on PetRescue.

Read more

Bindi adopted thanks to Port Macquarie Animal Shelter

Skilled individuals and experts came together to find new innovative ideas to fill gaps in animal welfare for PetHack 2020

💚 Springboarding new programs and projects to help save lives.

As part of a unique opportunity to tackle some of the biggest, longstanding problems in animal welfare, we brought together more than 100 skilled technologists across the nation to help us innovate for change. Our goal will be to continue collaborating with this community to further develop these game-changing prototypes into new initiatives and projects.

Supporting and promoting research that can help cats and communities

💚 This can keep urban stray cats safe and impact the high numbers of cats being impounded annually. 

PetRescue is a collaborator in the Community Cat Program, which is currently undertaking a cat desexing trial across multiple suburbs in Ipswich, Queensland. The trial, which will supplement research that proves desexing cats is a practical option for cat management, has already shown promising results. In the last financial year, the birth of over 2,000 kittens has been prevented in the Ipswich community on the heels of the ongoing free desexing for owned and semi-owned cats. 

Read more

Phew! It’s unbelievable how many awesome things have happened for pets and their people in the last year. We’re incredibly lucky to have amazing members, supporters, and partners like you who love pets and want to create a better future for them. And with you by our side, there's so much more we can achieve together! 💪

A heartfelt thank you to our amazing partners and sponsors.

Pets Regardless Foundation
Elsie Cameron Foundation
Bunderra Foundation