6 May 2020
Association of Dogs and Cats Homes sets up scheme to plug fund-raising gap caused by activities being cancelled and charity shops closing during pandemic.
David Woodmansey
Job Title
The umbrella body for animal rescue centres across the British Isles has moved to help head off a COVID-19 “catastrophe” that could result in thousands of animals being dumped on the system.
The Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) has launched a Coronavirus Emergency Fund for animal rescues across the British Isles, to help them continue their work during the coronavirus outbreak.
All of the country’s largest animal welfare organisations and charities – including the RSPCA – are members of the ADCH and, between them, care for tens of thousands of animals of all species.
However, all are suffering with traditional fund-raising activities drying up in the lockdown, raising the spectre of mass closures and animals without homes.
The emergency fund move comes in response to a survey of the association’s 150 member rescue and rehoming organisations.
ADCH chairman Claire Horton said: “There are more than 1,200 animal rescue and rehoming centres throughout the UK doing their very best to care for hundreds of thousands of unwanted and abandoned animals each year.
“Their closure or reduction in capacity would be catastrophic for animals in need, but the results of the ADCH survey paint a very worrying picture.”
Ms Horton added: “There has been no let-up in the number of animals these rescues care for, yet their income streams have all but dried up due to cancelled fund-raising activities and closure of charity shops.
“This is an emergency – the very survival of some of these rescues is at stake. The ADCH Coronavirus Emergency Fund is here to provide aid to rescues in immediate crisis and support to others further down the line.”
For more information and to apply, visit the ADCH website, and corporations or members of the public who wish to donate to the fund can visit the ADCH’s donation page.
