Adopt a Pet – Our Campaign for 2017

Adopt a pet and save a life

We are making 2017 our year to Adopt a Pet and encourage anyone thinking of buying a new pet to look at adoption first. Centres up and down the country are homes to many wonderful animals all deserving of a second chance.

Reasons to adopt

•  Save a life. It’s a sad fact that thousands of pets are destroyed each year.
•  Adoption is often cheaper than purchasing from a breeder or pet shop
•  There is nothing wrong with animals at shelters and sanctuaries. A common belief is that they are there because of some dreadful problem. The truth is, they just need a second chance and fresh start in a loving home.
•  Adult pets make great companions so give them a chance too. It can be time consuming house training puppies and kittens. With a mature pet you could avoid find it easier.

We believe that adoption is great way to acquire a pet and with campaigning and awareness, it will soon become more popular than buying a pet. Nearly all the work we do centres around adoption programs and we will be campaigning harder than ever in 2017 to get the message across.

It’s a dogs life

Local councils up and down the country operate stray dog services which collect lost, abandoned and stray dogs. They pay local dog pounds to house the animals for a period of usually 7 days. After that time if the animal is not collected by its owner, it can gift, sell or euthanase the dog. In America, many of the dog pounds operate a no kill policy and their is a big movement over there to save them all. Sadly this is not always the case in the UK. Many are euthanased due to the costs involved in keeping them and are not given a fair chance at adoption or a new life.

New statistics have revealed that in the last 12 months more than 47,500 were abandoned in council pounds, unclaimed by their owners. In total 102,363 stray and abandoned dogs were handled by UK local authorities and 5,142 were put to sleep – equating to 14 a day. The survey has revealed that, once again, councils are picking up the pieces of our disposable society. We think 7 days is not enough time to give them. We would like to see no healthy dog ever put to sleep and a time when there are no homeless dogs – even those with behavioural problems can be rehabilitated – just look at the work carried out by Cesar Millan with Pit Bulls.

It’s not just dogs.

For cats there is no such service and lost or abandoned cats are just left to survive on their own. We receive daily calls about abandoned cats were the owners have moved house and just left the cats behind to survive as best they can. Small pets are often overlooked but they need our help too. Rabbits are some of the UKs most neglected pets. It’s a small hutch and a lonely life for too many of them. They make wonderful pets to adopt and are the nations third most popular pet behind dogs and cats.

Why you should adopt a Pet

We are campaigning throughout 2017 with pet education and responsibility programs, pet adoption awareness and encouraging local authorities to review policies for stray dogs. We hope to see a day when no healthy pet is ever put to sleep and are all our pet friends are safe at last in loving homes.

By adopting a pet you’ll save a life. We are a nation of pet lovers, so please consider adoption when looking for a new companion. Together we can create a better world through kindness to animals and all living things.