This week, as we published the Scottish SPCA’s Impact Report looking back on all our work in 2023, I’ve been reflecting on the ways in which charities like us are now operating in ways we’ve never operated before.
The Scottish SPCA has been here for animals for 185 years and even in my seven years as CEO I’ve seen the ways in which animals – pets, wildlife, and farmed animals - need us changing significantly. And they need us now more than ever. Our 2023 report makes that starkly clear.
We’ve seen a 25% increase in animals arriving into our centres across the country, with more complex physical and emotional needs than ever. In part due to the relentless trade in animals, and in many cases due to unintentional harm because owners just can’t afford to care for their animals any more and have been desperately trying to make ends meet. We’re also seeing a sharp rise in the number of people contacting our helpline to talk to us about giving up their pet for financial reasons.
We’ve been working hard to get out in front of these problems, thinking and acting differently, changing the way we do things and evolving our services to make sure we’re there when people and animals need us. Before it’s too late.
Part of that is about expanding our community work across the country. Our Pet Aid service worked with 56 food banks in 2023 providing pet food and supplies to those in need so that they can stay together with their animals. I’m proud to say that now in June 2024 we’re working with 71 food banks and we’re supporting thousands of people and animals who otherwise may have had to be separated. And our new service, Pet Aid Veterinary, providing community veterinary support and reducing the need for animals to come into our care, is being successfully piloted in the Glasgow area with exciting plans for the future. Keeping people and pets together.
Our frontline teams, our animal rescue officers and our inspectors, are seeing first-hand the, often desperate, social issues affecting people across Scotland that are then giving rise to animal welfare concerns. We’re doing more in partnership with other charities and organisations across the country to tackle these issues together – my huge thanks to SAMH, Simon Community Scotland, and Citizens Advice Scotland for our continued work together over the past year supporting the people and animals of Scotland.
Like many organisations across the country, the Scottish SPCA has also seen our own costs rising. In 2023 it cost us £23 million to be there for the animals who need us, up from £16 million before the pandemic. And it’s harder than ever to raise the funds we need. So, as part of doing things differently and evolving our services to respond to the changing needs of animals, we also need to make ourselves as sustainable as possible so that we’re there for animals long into the future.
We’re rescuing animals more efficiently and effectively and expanding the advice we offer online, on the phone and in our communities to reduce callouts for our frontline teams and prioritise those animals most in need. For the animals who do need to come into our care we’re improving their experience with enhanced behavioural and physical support, and then finding them a new forever home as quickly as possible. I’m pleased to say that in 2023 the average number of days we took to rehome an animal dropped, and I’d like to see that continue.
But our new data shows that thousands more animals still need to come into our care every year and I want us to be there for all of them. We can only do that with help and it costs us more to help the animals who need us than the money we are raising, so every penny counts.
I’m hugely grateful to partners, like our recently announced partnership with People’s Postcode Lottery, for their generous support and to the tens of thousands of people and families across Scotland who donate to us each month. And we need even more people to join the rescue.
Lastly I want to thank all of our colleagues across the Scottish SPCA for their hard work, agility, commitment and resilience. They truly are an inspiration. Thanks too to all of our wonderful volunteers who give their time so generously.
With our wonderful team, volunteers, partners and supporters we are working to make Scotland the best place in the world for an animal to call home.
Read more about our work in 2023 here.
