The Canterbury Branch of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

SPCA is New Zealand’s oldest and largest animal welfare charity. Together with our communities, SPCA has been protecting New Zealand’s animals for over 140 years – animals who are sick, injured, neglected, abused or simply abandoned. Our 39 centres across the country cared for over 40,000 animals last year. We protect New Zealand’s animals by preventing cruelty & educating the community (SPCA believes that engaging, educating and building relationships with our communities is key to improving animal welfare in New Zealand); carrying out multiple animal rescues (last year our teams responded to over 15,000 reports of animals in difficulty across New Zealand); rehabilitating them; finding them shelter, rehoming &/or reuniting them; and seeking justice (SPCA is the only charity with the legal powers to help animals in need and bring animal offenders to justice). In a nutshell, we speak for those who cannot speak for. Funding this vital work is a never-ending struggle. Less than 4% of our operating budget comes through government sources ($1.9m of a $49m annual budget) – the rest is raised through the generosity of our wider community who work in partnership with us to ensure our shared values around animal welfare can be achieved.