20 years of PetRescue
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Big dogs bring just as much love and joy as their smaller friends and can be as little maintenance as the little ones - but they often wait twice as long to be adopted.
PetRescue data shows that:
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Large dogs can take nearly twice as long to find a new home compared to small dogs.
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They receive 78% fewer enquiries than smaller dogs.
That’s why PetRescue is putting big dogs in the spotlight. With the support of our amazing partners, through collaborative campaigns, we’re working to break down stereotypes and help these gentle giants find love faster.
Why big dogs need a boost
Pet adoption is mainstream in Australia today, but there’s still a constant stream of pets listed for adoption every day. Some pets need extra help to be seen, and big dogs are one of those groups.
Together with our partners, we’re creating national social change campaigns that:
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Challenge stereotypes and misconceptions about big dogs.
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Use data and collaboration to spark new conversations.
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Give big dogs the extra spotlight they need to find their new families.
The bigger picture
This is about more than just adoption campaigns. It’s about changing the way people think about big dogs - and making sure they get the same opportunities as every other pet.
Thanks to over 20 years of PetRescue data, technology, and amazing partner collaborations, together, we can shift the story for big dogs and spark lasting social change.
Campaigns & collaborations driving change
PetRescue continues to collaborate with our incredible partners and sponsors so that they can use their influence and reach to make positive change for rescue pets.
By consciously encouraging partners and sponsors to feature large dogs in their communications, advertising, campaigns and even on wine labels, together we can help share the (big) love that big dogs bring, encourage families to consider welcoming a large dog into their home and increase their chance of being seen.
Big Dog campaign in collaboration with Pet Circle
With Pet Circle’s support, we launched a campaign to increase adoptions of large dogs. The ‘Looking For Love’ campaign highlighted that big dogs spend 58% longer waiting for a home than small dogs. We encouraged families to look beyond breed or size, and discover that big dogs have just as much (if not more!) love to give.
Campaign promotion included media coverage (three TV segments, one radio interview, and five online articles), and 50,000 flyers distributed by Pet Circle.
In total, 424 big dogs found loving new homes during the campaign period, with searches for big dogs increasing by 45.9%!
In huge, happy news, big friendly giant and star of the campaign, Chloe finally found love after 689 days in care. Her profile views increased by 333% - jumping from 14 views a day to 61 during the campaign.
“With the help of amazing partners like Pet Circle, we can give them the chance to be seen and adopted. The data tells us that big dogs need an even bigger boost to generate more interest. We want to share far and wide that these special ones are looking for love too, and that they have big love to give in return.” - Patima Tantiprasut, Managing Director and CEO at PetRescue.
Sit Stay Society Wines - Big Dog Range
Continuing to celebrate man’s best friend, Sit Stay Society introduced a new ‘Big Dog’ wine range, featuring large dogs on the labels.
The Big Dog range emphasised the importance of supporting organisations like PetRescue to educate and engage people looking to adopt a pet about the joys of bringing a big dog home as a family pet.
“PetRescue has grown to be an immensely helpful tool for connecting shelters and rescue organisations with people looking to adopt a pet. The support of Sit Stay Society Wines ensures we can continue to invest in technology that gets pets into homes faster, and reduces the stress on rescue organisations while disrupting and innovating the system through initiatives like our Home2Home program,” Vickie Davy, PetRescue Founder and Director, said. “Big dogs currently spend longer in shelters than smaller dogs, which is a difficult environment for a pet to be in. We are excited to extend our partnership with Sit Stay Society Wines and to encourage people to consider adopting big dogs!”
12 Pets of Christmas
In 2024, all the pets featured in the 12 Pets of Christmas campaign had one thing in common - they were all big dogs! It was no coincidence - the 2024 campaign featured 12 large dogs for a few reasons:
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We identified the opportunity to highlight that large dogs typically take twice as long to find their new homes compared to smaller dogs with PetRescue’s community of donors and supporters.
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Our incredible, long-term partner, Mars Pedigree, excitedly joined in to help them find homes by kindly providing adorable adoption gift packs.
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The 12 dogs featured had been waiting the longest in council care, and PetRescue worked closely with these facilities to spotlight these lovable pets who’d had an extended stay.
Collectively, these dogs had been waiting over 3,000 days to find homes. But finding a home for every pet is possible.
Love Knows No Breed
It’s im-paw-tant to look beyond the breed (and size) when considering what type of pet would suit your home, family and lifestyle.
Research has shown that breed is not a reliable indicator of behaviour, care requirements or suitability to your family and lifestyle. So it’s best to consider an individual pet’s personality and likes and dislikes.
Patima Tantiprasut, Managing Director and CEO at PetRescue, says, “While ‘dogs’ are the most popular pet search on PetRescue, it’s heartbreaking to see that big dogs can be waiting almost twice as long to find a home when compared to the average time it takes the smaller ones. This campaign encourages people to look beyond appearance alone when considering a pet, and instead, focus on their individual personality. It might surprise many that a big, friendly giant might actually be the most suitable and compatible companion for their lifestyle and household.”
Looking to welcome a doggo into your family?
Meet some big dogs with big love to give!
What about cats?!
Find out how, together with our partners, donors and supporters, we’re helping bring black cats out of the shadows.
Image: Storm, looking for love - Forever Friends Animal Rescue
