Home2Home: Keeping pets safe

Home2Home provides an alternative option to surrendering that directly helps people and pets in need and prevents them from entering an unsafe system where their fate could become unknown.

Home2Home has already made a significant positive impact by supporting pet guardians with kindness throughout their pet rehoming journey, whether that’s helping find new loving homes for pets or supporting pet owners to keep their pets, which is, without a doubt, the most ideal outcome.

Home2Home also eases the burden on the rescue community, which is often stretched beyond capacity.

In the 2023-2024 financial year alone, Home2Home kept 213 pets from entering the rescue system. This included 92 dogs who stayed safe in their homes while waiting to find their new families for a total of 12,565 days, saving shelters an estimated $603,120 in care costs.*

Additionally, 121 cats were spared from entering the system, spending 14,046 days safe and stress-free in their homes, and out of shelters while waiting for their new families. This resulted in estimated savings of $674,208 for the shelters that would have otherwise taken them into care.^

"I spent a few months trying to find a solution to my situation, but all the rescues I contacted were full, and I didn't want to put my cat in a shelter or list him on other trading platforms. I'm so glad I stumbled on this program because it was exactly what I was looking for in terms of safety and security for my cat. The team was understanding and supportive, and the process of getting my cat's listing up was smooth. I had a bunch of questions, but the communication was excellent throughout. Within a week, I had a number of great inquiries and ended up finding a great fit a lot sooner than I expected. I would recommend to anyone looking to find a (new) home for their fur children." ~ Pet guardian who used Home2Home to find a new home for their cat, Hagrid.

“This amazing program gave my cat a second chance at a wonderful life with a loving owner when I was no longer able to care for her. I now receive regular updates and photos from her new owner, which would not happen if she had been adopted from a shelter. Rehoming my cat was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made, and I was feeling very guilty that due to ill health, I had to do so. From the first email Vicki from Home2Home sent me, I knew that I had found the perfect program to help me find my cat a new home. Vicki was so understanding, and there wasn't a hint of judgment, which meant that I felt comfortable with the process. I will be forever grateful to Vicki and the Home2Home team, as I believe they saved my cat's life.” ~ Maria.

Recognition & support of the bond between pets and their families.

The Home2Home program is not only safely getting pets from one home to another, but also providing much-needed support to pet guardians to help them keep their pets when they have nowhere else to turn. 

People like Emma, who reached out to Home2Home when surrendering their beloved dog, Lenny, seemed like the only option.

“I wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU for going through this process with us. Even though we didn't match up with someone to take Lenny, it gave us an opportunity to work on him while actively looking for a better situation for him. We've really come to the conclusion that our family is the best situation for him, and we just can't imagine our life without him in it! We truly see this as a Home2Home success story and think this service is absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much for making it so easy for us and doing such a wonderful job in helping us when we didn't know where else to turn.” - Emma

Read Lenny's Happy Tail here

See what pet guardians are saying about Home2Home here.

Sharing the Home2Home blueprint: Helping rescue organisations and councils keep pets safe.

The PetRescue team introduced the Home2Home program to hundreds of councils and rescue organisations from all over Australia as an alternative to surrendering at the Big Hairy People and Pets Summit in October 2023.

By openly sharing learnings from the program's pilot and giving councils and rescue organisations the tools and blueprints to set up their own assisted rehoming program or the ability to refer pet guardians to PetRescue’s Home2Home program, we can reduce intake and enable rescue organisations to focus their efforts on the most at-risk and vulnerable pets.

Together, we can continue to prioritise the welfare of pets and the well-being of the people who love them and strengthen and support the entire rescue community.

Thanks to your support, Home2Home has grown into the program it is today - a game-changing option for councils, shelters and rescue organisations. 

It’s our hope that Home2Home will provide an alternative to surrendering and be a life-saving option for councils, shelters and rescue groups who can replicate this model or adopt parts to fit their structures.

By challenging the status quo and testing new approaches, together, we can keep moving towards a future where every pet is safe.

Read more about Home2Home 

Image: Katie, found a new home via Home2Home.

*Dogs adopted via Home2Home saved from being in the system 12,565 days at a value of $603,120 based on $48/per-day-care-cost.

^Cats adopted via Home2Home saved from being in the system 14,046 days at a value of $674,208 based on $48/per-day-care-cost.