Rescue groups have been busting hump since the beginning of the year. Some of them had to temporarily, or even permanently, close their doors because of Covid-19 to protect the health of their volunteers. Most have had to cancel in-person fundraising events. While the ones who were able to survive these blows to their human resources, and their financial resources, found themselves utterly awash with people who wanted to bring a pet into their homes right now.
From PetRescue's May Update;
And as a result of these visits, a corresponding surge in adoption enquiries.
And...
Amazing right? So much so, the story was picked up by the media.
And is now the centrepiece for PetRescue's June Tax Time fundraiser.
And it's no small investment by the community...
... with the stated goal for the fundraiser to be in excess of $150,000 from the community, matched by Woolworths. Or $300k.
But what happened next?
So we already know that thousands of people came forward to adopt a pet. And the response by Australia’s rescue groups was nothing short of formidable, with thousands of pets finding their homes in a few short weeks.
Pets who were;
- collected, transported,
- fed and cared for,
- desexed and chipped,
- vet treated for ailments and,
- given the final polishes they needed to be ready for a new home.
(All done at no cost to PetRescue and entirely done at the rescue group’s expense)
Adoption applicants were;
- received, sorted,
- matched,
- screened,
- assessed and,
- given final approvals
(Again, all done using rescue group volunteer manpower, at no expense to PetRescue)
The investment by rescue groups in finding these pets good homes was inarguably mammoth. And what was the result?
That's where things get interesting. Remember this stat?
Well, let's compare it to a similar time of year (May) 2019.
In May 2019, 13,800 enquiries were made and 6,800 pets were adopted. Compared to the current Covid-19 "mega months" of March and April 2020 where 85,000 applications were made and 14,800 pets were adopted.
But of course all of those stats need to be divided by 2 to get March and April as single months. So now we have
6,800 adoptions in May 2019. Compared to,
7,400 adoptions in April 2020.
That's right. Despite all the hoohah and media exposure and self-congratulations going on at the PetRescue offices, the adoption impact was a modest 600 pets a month or so. That's not that 600 extra Covid adoptions are anything to be (ahem) sneezed at. It's just that those 600 pets were immediately embellished into a $300,000 fundraiser for PetRescue's own staff.
Which gets right to the heart of the matter
Rescue groups can't do more.
PetRescue banked $1.5 million dollars last year, gave a million of that to their own staff, and gave just $108 back to the community.
PetRescue's "big purple button" cost the community $50,000 to build, and to date it has generated about $30,000 for rescue groups. Again, ALL of that money came from the community, none of it has been PetRescue's financial investment.
And the result of this 'one way' system (millions of dollars goes into PetRescue, and they share none of it with their rescue members) is that despite PetRescue's own resources growing year on year, rescue groups become just a little bit less financially viable every year, as PetRescue redirects the donors rescue groups need to survive with fundraisers overstating investment in the rescue process.
PetRescue is no leader; it is an obstacle. The sooner the rescue movement is free of it, the sooner rescue groups can regain their financial stability and we might see genuine change for pets. All the while PetRescue are allowed to use the work of rescue group volunteers to bank millions in corporate and community support, rescue groups will never be able to grow their movement.
It's time for rescue groups to end their relationship with PetRescue.