PET adoption rates are increasing at the Orange RSPCA.
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The Orange shelter had a 16 per cent increase in the number of adoptions in the 2015-16 financial year compared to the previous 12 months.
During the last financial year there were 495 animals re-homed compared to 429 animals the year prior.
So far this calendar year the shelter has re-homed 523 animals, including 22 this month.
RSPCA Orange shelter manager Marissa Clifford said the increased adoptions were due to arrangements that allow animals to be transported to other areas of NSW, which drastically increases their adoption chances.
“We’ve got a lot more opportunities as well, working with Pet Barn and working with rescue groups and the drivers transporting animals around the state,” Ms Clifford said.
She said the Drive for Lives group moved animals between shelters, relieving places that were reaching capacity and taking animals to where there was a higher demand for pet adoption.
“We get animals from Sydney that find homes here,” Ms Clifford said.
“We had some birds recently that came up from our Sydney shelters and we do transport dogs down to the Sydney shelters.”
She said in some cases if an animal has been at a shelter for a long time it is relocated and often finds a home quickly.
Animals were also transferred if a person had a particular breed they wanted to adopt from another area of the state.
Ms Clifford said the majority of animals that go through the shelter for adoption were cats and dogs but they accept a wide variety of animals and will do what they can to re-home them.
She said the Orange shelter recently had a small dog with problems with its knee caps that needed significant surgery. It was done and the dog is now recovering in foster care.
On Saturday afternoon Ms Clifford said there were seven dogs and puppies at the shelter, as well as cats, kittens, rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep and roosters.
Among the animals were eight-week-old mastiff cross pups Truffle and Berry who came from the same litter and were brought to the RSPCA when they were four or five days old.
They were raised by a foster carer and both are available at $350 each.
