UK Shelter Dogs & Cats Urgently Need Your Support

Aim

There are thousands of sheltered pets in the UK that adopters are unaware of but would love to give a home to. Please help us make it happen

The Problem

It's heartwarming to know, every month over 800,000 potential UK animal rehomers are searching for a suitable pet companion to share their home and their love with. 

However, it's heartbreaking to hear that despite the huge number of willing adopters actively seeking a pet - on average over 100,000 homeless dogs and cats still remain in temporary animal shelter accommodation every day and can remain in shelter for several months. The RSPCA who are one of largest animal welfare charities in the UK confirm "there are many animals in our care who have been waiting for forever homes for many months, sometimes even years”.

The answer is so simple and its validity can be tested. Our nations 800,000 searchers simply don't have access to one central database. Instead, they must regularly search over 1,000 separate animal shelter websites to find their perfect pet match. That's impractical, fragmented and no doubt leads to many giving up completely.

It's 2023 and we are all familiar with the ease and simplicity of using centralised online resources such as Rightmove or Autotrader websites when searching for the right car or the perfect home. So why not pets?

The Solution

We want to make a meaningful and lasting change to improve the welfare and future prospects of sad and lonely animals living in shelters across the UK. We are already doing this by building and replicating the Rightmove and Autotrader concept and offering the animal shelter organisations a centralised database and animal rehoming community called www.relovablepets.co.uk.

How You Can Help

We've invested in the website and now need to connect each animal shelter to our centralised database to synchronise their animal listings. This is where we desperately need your help. The cost of digitally connecting with each shelter is over £300 - £400. If we are able to raise sufficient funds to onboard 33% of UK shelters, the website will then generate sufficient income from its shop sales to finance the remaining 67%.

The Backstory

For potential pet adopters, finding a dog or cat to adopt can be quite fragmented - as each of the 1,000 Animal Shelters websites would need to be viewed separately and regularly. This also means that some shelters may be completely overlooked if they are missed during the search.

The digital, print and TV media have been regularly reporting the challenges faced by animal shelters and the problem is not likely to be resolved any time soon. During Covid, many people began working from home or were furloughed and thought it a great idea to acquire a pet. When Covid passed, many new pet owners returned to work leaving them unable to take care of their pet. Since Covid, the UK has subsequently suffered a significant cost of living crisis leaving many pet owners unable to afford pet food or veterinary care. Together, Covid and the cost of living crisis has caused an unprecedented number of dogs and cats to be taken in by animal shelters across the UK. With so many shelters struggling to meet the demand and cost of care, many animals may face euthanasia if not rehomed. 

It's our belief that simplifying search and making sheltered animals more widely available on a central database will reduce their period of stay and provide loving homes far sooner than the current system of fragmentation.

The problem is real, Peta.org states that;

"at any given time, there are an estimated 100,000 dogs – and countless cats – without homes in the UK". 

• BBC News Article: 'It's me or the dog' puts shelters under stress.
• ITV News Article: Shelters fill up as cost of living drives struggling owners to get up pets.
• BBC News: Cost of living: Animal shelter sees rise in cats given up
• 500 Days In An Animal Shelter - Charlie Finally Finds A Forever Home

We thank you for reading about our project and genuinely appreciate your generosity, feedback and support.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 16th June 2023