Fall in membership leads to charity’s appeal for support
ANDREA LAMBROU
The Scottish SPCA has launched a new awareness campaign with a simple message – don’t forget the animals.
Despite a fall in membership and donations due to the coronavirus outbreak, the animal welfare charity’s dedicated animal care teams have helped thousands of animals over the past month.
Almost 1500 members have stopped their monthly donations. This, combined with the cancellation of fundraising events and challenges, means the Society could face losing up to 20 per cent of its income this year in a worst-case scenario.
The rescue and rehoming centre in Lanarkshire needs over £51,000 every month to care for animals.
Since the nation entered lockdown in March, the Society has fielded over 11,000 calls to its animal helpline and responded to over 4,400 reports of animals in urgent need – an average of over 140 per day.
The charity launched an emergency fostering service to free-up space as it continued to rescue animals without being able to rehome. More than 130 animals have gone to foster homes, with over 300 animals seized on welfare grounds or picked up as strays coming in to rescue centres over the same period.
Over 700 animals are receiving rehabilitation at the National Wildlife Rescue Centre, which is getting busier all the time as the weather improves.
The Scottish SPCA has also had to suspend its education programme, instead offering a suite of free home-learning resources for parents, carers and teachers across Scotland.
The involvement of the SSPCA can be the difference between life or death for animals like Rocky the Staffordshire bull terrier.
Rocky was found abandoned and tied to a park bench before being brought to the Lanarkshire centre.
The Staffie had a skin condition which vets had to treat immediately to clear up.
It was untreated for so long Rocky still has some areas of skin affected, even 11 weeks after being rescued.
Poor Rocky never got the chance to socialise with other dogs, meaning he has to wear a muzzle when he may come in to contact with other canines.
In typical Staffie form, Rocky is at his happiest when playing with his tennis ball or soaking up attention. Without the efforts of the Scottish SPCA’s animal care team, Rocky would have continued to be in pain from his skin condition and would never have rediscovered happiness.
Centre manager, Gillian Boyle, said: “Our frontline teams, whether on our helpline, out on the road, or in a rescue centre, are still here fighting to rescue and care for every single animal we can.
“We know Scotland is a nation of animal lovers and now, more than ever, we ask that they don’t forget the animals. Our aim is to be here as long as animals and people need us, giving the likes of Rocky a second chance in life.
“Every single person who signs up to support us with a monthly donation will make a difference and will save lives.”
The Scottish SPCA receives no government funding and is entirely reliant on donations from the public.
To find out more about the #DontForgetTheAnimals campaign and becoming a member of the SSPCA, visitscottishspca.org/join.
In need