Category: Feature Stories

SPCA International is partnering to help clear the Bakersfield, California, city animal shelter, which is at capacity. The number of animals coming into the shelter simply eclipses the number of animals being adopted. 

Without help, they’ll have to euthanize around 30 animals each day. The staff are heartbroken by this reality, so they are committed to moving approximately 180 adoptable animals to Canada, where adoptive families are waiting. 

SPCA International proudly sponsored the first of three flights operated by Pet Rescue Pilots. This huge undertaking involved the Bakersfield city shelter, Marley’s Mutts, Pet Rescue Pilots, BARKs Rescue and many volunteers from each group. 

On June 25th, the sponsored flight transported 60 animals 1,275 miles from Bakersfield to Great Falls, Montana, where BARKs volunteers received the animals. BARK then coordinated the final leg of their journey to Canada and loving adoptive families. 

In addition to saving the lives of animals at risk of being euthanized, this rescue mission allows the staff at the Bakersfield shelter to move out of crisis mode and focus on long-term solutions. They are focused on efforts to reduce the number of unwanted animals by providing community education and advocating for local ordinances that require pet sterilization and restrict backyard breeding.

SPCA International partner Clean Futures Fund recently completed a successful visit to Chornobyl, Ukraine. Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible through a donation! 

Clean Futures Fund supports both the people and animals living in and around the Chornobyl Nuclear Exclusion Zone, but they have been unable to visit because of the pandemic and the Russian invasion. 

The area has hundreds of stray dogs that are the descendants of dogs left behind when the area was evacuated after the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster. Clean Futures Fund provides food, veterinary care and sterilizations for these dogs, reducing suffering and humanely decreasing the stray dog population.

Though local citizens persevered in feeding and caring for the dogs to the best of their abilities, dogs living at the nuclear power plant began to starve during the Russian invasion. The workers at the power plant typically fed the dogs daily, but when they were captured and detained by Russian soldiers, no one cared for the dogs for a month. 

When the Russians withdrew from the area, Clean Futures Fund mobilized to send dog food as quickly as possible to the starving animals. During their visit, they found the dogs’ conditions to be much improved thanks to the dedication of the power plant workers. 

Thank you again to everyone who made this long-awaited and critically important visit possible. We’ll keep you updated on future developments from Clean Futures Fund and their work in and around Chornobyl, Ukraine.

The dog meat trade is one of the most terrible animal welfare issues we focus on here at SPCA International, but it is immensely important.

Despite public outcry in China, a select number of people continue the barbaric practice of slaughtering and eating dogs. That’s why SPCA International remains committed to supporting partner organizations on the ground in China.

We are proud to share that since the beginning of the year, our partners at Bo Ai Animal Protection Centre have rescued over 90 dogs from the meat trade by focusing on legal pressure and community awareness. Once dogs are rescued, they work to provide veterinary care and ensure the pups learn to trust humans again. Then, they find safe and loving homes for the pups in China and abroad.

Despite the year-round work, each June brings a particularly horrific event – the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. Our partners at Plush Bear’s Shelter are at the festival to save as many dogs as possible. They can’t save every single animal, but they certainly make a difference. They alert the police when traffickers and butchers engage in illegal activities, and they even buy dogs from butchers to save their lives.

Unfortunately, the pups are kept in terrible conditions that cause immense trauma and illness. Nevertheless, our partners in China are steadfast in their dedication to this life-saving work.

Even though photos and videos of the Yulin event are banned, our partners have been able to capture some images to share with us so we know what is happening. Please be advised that these images below are disturbing.

Photos provided by Plush Bears Shelter

Help end this practice. DONATE NOW to support organizations in countries where dog and cat meat is still consumed.

When the CDC suddenly announced restrictions on the import of dogs coming from over 100 countries, the SPCA International team mobilized. The new rules directly affected our Operation Baghdad Pups: Worldwide program and the many soldiers who count on us to reunite them with the dogs they rescue while serving overseas. 

We quickly expedited as many dogs as possible so they could travel before the restrictions began, we partnered with other animal welfare groups to ask lawmakers and the CDC to reconsider their decision, and we implemented an alternate rescue route that involved a six-month quarantine period in Canada. 

Now, nearly a year after the initial rule changed the way we rescued dogs from many countries, we are pleased to announce the CDC has eased their rules. We will now be able to bring our U.S. service members’ dogs directly to the U.S. through designated ports of entry. This means soldiers will be reunited with their battle buddy pups sooner, keeping the bond and the health of soldiers and pups strong. 

Thank you to everyone who has provided unwavering support for the Operation Baghdad Pups: Worldwide program during this past year. You made it possible for SPCA International to provide food, shelter and medical care for dogs during this unprecedented situation. 

The soldiers waiting to be reunited with their dogs are ecstatic to know their pups are on their way home. All of us at SPCA International are thrilled to be returning to a more direct and faster route of reuniting soldiers and their pups.

Stray cat populations are manageable with intentional TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Release) programs, which is why SPCA International proudly supports SOS (Sterilize our Strays) Algarve Animals in Portugal. 

Their recent spayathon reached 293 cats and 90% were strays! This is significant because stray cats are highly likely to reproduce. If left to their own devices, a female cat can have two or three litters a year and produce hundreds of kittens in her lifetime. 

Sterilizing female and male stray cats drastically reduces the number of stray cats, allowing the existing population to better access food and care from their human neighbors. It also means cats don’t become a nuisance in their communities and people can better respond when cats are visibly hurt or sick. 

In addition to treating cats, SOS Algarve Animals also sterilized 21 dogs during their recent campaign for a grand total of 314 animals. We look forward to all they will continue to accomplish on behalf of animals in Portugal!

Brady came to Good World Animal Rescue in Azerbaijan with a five-pound tumor on his face. He was sick, malnourished and hurting from the abuse he suffered on the streets; he had been kicked, beaten and stoned by local children. 

Brady’s body was too frail for immediate surgery, but the caring and dedicated people at Good World Animal Rescue helped him recover his strength. They found a specialized surgeon in nearby Turkey who could operate on the complicated tumor that had begun to push into Brady’s eye. 

We at SPCA International are proud to support Good World Animal Rescue through our Shelter Support Fund so they can continue to rescue and care for more animals like Brady. We are thrilled to announce that Brady’s surgery went amazingly well, and he is now recovering in Turkey. Biopsy results are still pending but our partners hope to find Brady a loving home in Canada or the UK soon.

Thanks to an outpouring of support to combat the dog and cat meat trade, SPCA International will provide support for partners in China on the frontlines rescuing dogs and cats from slaughterhouses.

Our partners in China continue to work daily to save as many animals as possible. The photos above are shining examples of their recent success. These beautiful pups and kitties would have been eaten if not for our partner, Plush Bears Shelter; now, they are receiving medical attention and lots of love, thanks to your generosity.

As long as the practice of eating dog meat continues in China, SPCA International will work tirelessly to advocate for its end. 

You can still get involved in changing this practice. DONATE NOW to support organizations in countries where dog and cat meat is still consumed.

WA Wildlife is an innovative SPCA International partner in Australia. They are on the front lines of rescuing and rehabilitating Australia’s wild animals and always searching for ways to improve their life-saving work. We are excited to share their newest innovation.

Experiencing a disjointed wildlife rescue system, they partnered with a developer to create their new Wildlife Resource Portal. This portal connects rescuers, veterinarians and rehabilitators to best meet the needs of kangaroos, wombats, koalas and many other Australian animals. 

SPCA International continues to be amazed at the incredible work accomplished by WA Wildlife and its partners. We first connected with them during the tragedy of the bushfires in early 2020, when an overwhelming number of animals needed rescue. Since then, our partnership has only grown. 

Over the past several years, with support from SPCA International, WA Wildlife established a state-of-the-art wildlife hospital, deployed a wildlife ambulance and is now tackling the logistics of improving wildlife rescue throughout their region. We are so proud of all WA Wildlife continues to accomplish. 

SPCA International is proud to support animal-loving Ukrainians in two important ways. First, we are partnering with Hello Ralphie to provide remote veterinary consults for those unable to reach in-person veterinary care. This service is a lifeline for people without veterinary training who are caring for pets or abandoned animals. Second, we continue to support partner organizations Romanian League in Defense of Animals, Gostomel Animal Shelter, Sava’s Safe Haven, and Street Dog Coalition as they are working tirelessly to support Ukrainian pets and families as they cross Ukrainian borders to safety in neighboring countries. Many refugees have carried their dogs and cats throughout their journeys and are relieved to be met by kind and compassionate pet-people who provide supplies and help them secure the veterinary paperwork necessary to continue their journeys.

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We are excited to share that the first of thirty-two OBP: Worldwide dogs have arrived in Quebec, Canada. Each of these animals was adopted by a U.S. service member who saw an animal in need and simply couldn’t look away. 

Because of CDC restrictions, these dogs have been stuck overseas, some for many months. Without an end in sight to these restrictions, our team found a creative solution. These dogs will all spend six months in quarantine in Canada, after which they will be cleared to travel to their soldiers and forever homes in the U.S. 

We are proud to have found a solution to this daunting obstacle. Our commitment to the military community and their pets is unwavering.