The impact of your kindness 2025
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Sporty Spice found love thanks to Wollongong Pet Connection.
This year, you made sure that homeless pets continue to get the best chance to be seen and find love! Thanks to your incredible support, thousands of pets found loving homes or stayed safe with their families. From speeding up adoptions to supporting people in crisis, your kindness has made a difference for pets and the people who love them.
Here's how you saved lives and created happiness for thousands of Australian pets and the people who care for them in the 2024–2025 financial year:
You helped find a home for every pet that needs one.
72,560 lucky pets found loving homes quickly via PetRescue, thanks to you!
It’s thanks to your kindness that PetRescue’s adoption platform and adoption assistance programs remain free for all!
Because of your generous support, PetRescue.com.au continues to be the best chance for homeless pets to be seen, connecting them with their new families quickly.
Pet profiles were viewed 31,884,522 times this financial year, leading to 90,594 enquiries (that's 10.34 enquiries per hour!) from pawsome humans looking to grow their family with a furry friend!
All those enquiries meant that it took just 11.79 days* for pets to find love via PetRescue. (17.27% faster than the previous financial year!).
*Median time to adoption across all species of pets listed for adoption on PetRescue.
Helping the ones that need more love.
It’s thanks to your support that PetRescue can continue to collaborate with our incredible partners and sponsors so that they can use their influence and reach to make positive change for rescue pets.
Thanks to you, the Big Dog campaign, in collaboration with Pet Circle, helped 221 big dogs find loving homes - more than double our target of 100!
Sadly, PetRescue data tells us that big dogs typically wait 78% longer to be adopted than smaller ones. But with your help, we ensured they had an even better chance at finding a loving home by partnering with major sponsors and media outlets to shine a spotlight on these big, friendly giants.
The median time to adoption during the campaign reduced from 23 days to just 17! Big dogs also received far more attention online, with their dedicated search page accounting for 45.9% of views. Our reach extended far beyond our platform, with almost 5 million people engaging with the campaign through national media coverage.
One special girl, Chloe, was adopted after 689 days in care. While her adopter met her directly at Shoalhaven Animal Shelter, the campaign still played a part by boosting her profile views by 333%, from 14 to 61 per day!
Read Chloe’s happy tail and see what her new family has shared about how much love big dogs have to give.
Because of your support, PetRescue continues to be free for everyone.
In the last financial year, we’re thrilled to have welcomed 74 new and reputable rescue community organisations.
The PetRescue community now includes 827 members, including councils, shelters, vets and rescue organisations who have been successfully verified.
Gibby found love thanks to Cat Adoption Foundation.
“Being a PetRescue member has been great. We list all our cats still looking for homes after our adoption day on the platform and we get lots of people contacting us about cats they've seen. It's very time-consuming for people to go through all of the different rescue groups and shelter websites to look for a pet, and it's a lot easier to go to one place, knowing that a lot of rescue organisations are using it, and see all the cats currently available in the area.” Virginie, Cat Adoption Foundation.
Keeping pets safe, supported, and out of the system.
Every day, pet guardians reach out to PetRescue, facing heartbreaking decisions. Whether it’s due to financial hardship, housing challenges, or life’s unexpected turns, the thought of surrendering a beloved pet can feel like the only option.
Thanks to your generosity, Home2Home offers an alternative to surrendering, keeping pets safe and relieving pressure on overwhelmed shelters and rescue organisations, ensuring pets don’t enter a system where their future is uncertain.
One very special story of a bonded family of three
Quinn, Artemis, and Ginge found their new home together through Home2Home.
Rehoming bonded pairs is rare enough. Rehoming three together? It's nearly unheard of in the rescue system. But thanks to time and support given to their guardian by Home2Home, this loving trio stayed together, and now have a new home to share.
Mixie found love thanks to Bendigo Animal Relief Centre.
It’s because of your generosity that Home2Home can work collaboratively with PetRescue rescue organisation members, like Bendigo Animal Relief Centre (BARC), to keep pets safe and out of the rescue system. By presenting assisted rehoming programs, like Home2Home, as an alternative, safe pathway for pet guardians looking to surrender their pets to shelters, we can reduce intake and pressure on the rescue system, allowing organisations to help those pets most in need.
BARC and others now use Home2Home’s trusted resources to support pet guardians in their communities, resulting in fewer pets entering shelters and better outcomes for pets and the people who care for them.
“The Home2Home resources have been really helpful, and we use them extensively in our pre-surrender support. We focus a lot on pre-surrender work, and now, out of every 20 surrender inquiries, only one animal ends up coming into the shelter. We work closely with pet owners to provide support, especially since many other shelters are overwhelmed with surrenders. By supplying our community residents with alternative resources and encouraging them to rehome their pets themselves, particularly when they’re in a position to do so, using the steps Home2Home has outlined, we’re seeing much better outcomes. It’s also great that councils can access support from you for this work, not just for adoption, but for private rehoming as well.” Fra Atyeo, Operations Manager, BARC.
Thanks to your ongoing support, we’ll continue to work one-on-one with the community, PetRescue member organisations and councils to change the future for pets.
Scaling impact with technology that saves time - and lives.
Gwen found love again through Home2Home.
As demand for Home2Home continues to exceed program capacity, our small team has been stretched to its limits and at times throughout the year, we’ve had to pause or limit new intake. It’s a clear sign of just how vital this support is for people and pets in crisis, and why we need a more sustainable way to scale impact.
Thanks to your support, the development of a case management dashboard is making that future possible. This new platform will soon be in use, automating time-consuming admin and allowing our team to focus on what matters most - providing one-on-one support to people and pets in need. From first contact through to post-adoption follow-up, every step is becoming easier, faster, and more effective.
Because of you, later this year we’ll be ready to welcome even more people and pets through Home2Home, helping them stay safe, supported, and out of the system.
You helped people and pets in crisis.
Thanks to your support, the PetRescue helpdesk team responded to 5,633 calls for support from people and pets in crisis. Using the crisis care directory, folks experiencing crisis situations such as hospitalisations, homelessness, domestic violence and financial hardship are connected directly with local organisations that offer outreach, crisis support services and safe short-term accommodation for their pets, saving precious time and resources.
Bridgette found love thanks to SAFE Busselton
Your support helped coordinate the complex logistics of over $530,000 worth of food and pet products delivered to pets in need across Australia!
PetRescue's food and product donation program helps rescue organisations feed pets in their care, freeing up funds to cover other critical care needs.
In April and May, our friends at Wellness Pet Company continued their incredible support, donating 30 pallets of premium pet food, dental care, and treats valued at $61,592.00. That’s thousands of bellies filled, happy tails wagging, and meows of approval across the state and beyond.
See more of the food donations made possible
Cat Rules gifted 400 boxes of cat litter valued at $10,000 to seven PetRescue member organisations. This generous donation is paw-sitively amazing for PetRescue rescue organisations and the cats they care for.
See more of the product donations made possible this year.
Keeping pets safe and sound
Increased safety for pets within the current system.
Your support saves lives by enabling the PetRescue team to do crucial behind-the-scenes work to build relationships with councils and introduce them to the benefits of PetRescue's adoption platform as a rehoming tool.
“Becoming a PetRescue member has been awesome, it gives you a level of reach that is really difficult to get on your own as a council. Having that open forum where you're engaging people far and wide is great. It just opens up a whole new market of potential adopters and it’s had a significant impact on our adoption program as well.” Daniel Kennedy, Wollongong Pet Connection
Twix found love thanks to Wollongong Pet Connection
Setting up more councils to successfully use PetRescue's free adoption platform as a rehoming pathway is crucial in keeping pets safe. Without this opportunity, pets within council facilities are possibly invisible and might never get a second chance. Digital rehoming equips councils and shelters with modern tools and access to a much bigger community of adopters (including the possibility of interstate adoptions) while reducing the burden on rescue organisations at capacity.
Thanks to you, Oberon Council was onboarded to PetRescue and now lists pets for adoption. We also helped Gavin connect with rescue groups who could assist with transport, vet care, and rehabilitation - things the council simply didn’t have the resources for.
“It was easy to join PetRescue as a member, and I would say to other councils that you absolutely have to join - it adds another string to your bow when rehoming pets. We're a very small organisation, and we were onboarded thoroughly and supported through building relationships with rescue groups.” Gavin, Oberon Council
Now, the pets in Gavin’s care that are listed on PetRescue are seen by adopters far beyond their local area. In Leila's case, her new guardian even travelled two and a half hours from Sydney to meet her!
“A lovely lady from Sydney enquired through PetRescue about 'Leila’, a beautiful dog we had in care for a year. She had a meet and greet in Mt Victoria, and she loved her at first sight and was prepared to put the work in (Leila) required. How wonderful!” - Gavin, Oberon Council.
The PetRescue Safe and Sound Pets community now includes 64 councils across the country who are utilising PetRescue as a rehoming pathway to connect with potential adopters, marking 7,813 pets adopted on the PetRescue platform this financial year.
Redesigning the future.
Rob with Memphis, via Peter Haynes from Peter Haynes Perspectives.
Thanks to your support, PetRescue continues to produce and share Council Spotlight articles that are helping shift perspectives and drive change across the animal welfare sector. By showcasing progressive council programs, these stories provide real-life examples of how animal management can be compassionate, community-led, and effective.
Widely shared in industry forums, working groups, and conference presentations, the articles are being used as practical tools - inspiring other councils, supporting peer learning, and highlighting the real value of building strong connections between councils, communities and companion animals.
Read the Council Spotlight Series in the PetRescue library.
Research that drives real change for pets and people.
Kiki found love thanks to Sally's Cat & Kitten Rescue Inc
Behind the scenes, your support is helping to power a transformation in the animal welfare sector - one driven by data, collaboration, and a shared vision for a better future. This year, PetRescue partnered with leading researchers, universities, and student teams to explore the deeper challenges facing people, pets, and rescue organisations across the country.
From understanding how workplace culture impacts wellbeing in the sector, to identifying what makes certain cats more adoptable online, to measuring the true social value of PetRescue’s programs, these collaborative projects are giving us the tools to work smarter and more strategically. Together, we’re building a stronger evidence base to guide the way forward and turning research into real-life impact for pets and the people who care for them.
Read about the collaborative research projects shaping the future for pets.
The State of Pet Adoption: Using data to drive change.
The 2025 State of Pet Adoption Report provides a comprehensive look at the current landscape of pet adoption in Australia, drawing on insights from rescue groups, shelters, councils, vets and the wider animal welfare community. By identifying key trends and challenges, the report helps focus attention on the areas of greatest need and track progress across the sector.
Thanks to a growing collaboration with researchers and university partners, the survey’s insights have already led to a peer-reviewed paper, with three more academic publications in development. Together, this body of work is providing the sector with the evidence and tools needed to build a more compassionate, sustainable future for pets and the people who care for them.
Read the 2025 State of Pet Adoption Report.
Thank you for joining us to create happiness and save lives.
And thank you to our generous pet-lovin' partners and sponsors for supporting the mission to find a home for every pet that needs one.
Major Partners
Sponsors
Offering vital support to our projects, programs and events.
