World Rescue Dog Day: Adopt Don’t Shop!
FOUR PAWS urges South Africans to open their hearts to shelter animals
Cape Town, 14 May 2025 – As World Rescue Dog Day approaches on 20 May, global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS South Africa is calling on the public to consider adopting rescue dogs from local animal shelters, rather than purchasing pets. With millions of animals in South Africa facing homelessness, adoption remains one of the most compassionate and impactful actions individuals can take.
South Africa is currently grappling with a serious pet overpopulation crisis. An estimated 4.05 million dogs and cats live without permanent homes, including 1.7 million stray dogs, 1.7 million stray cats, and over 650,000 animals housed in shelters. These figures are compounded by socio-economic challenges such as poverty, limited access to veterinary services, and low public awareness about the benefits of adopting rescue animals.
Despite common misconceptions, rescue dogs are just as loving, healthy, and loyal as animals bought from breeders or pet shops. Many find themselves in shelters through no fault of their own often as a result of abandonment, abuse, or financial hardship faced by their previous owners.
FOUR PAWS encourages the public to visit their local shelters, engage with the animals, and learn more about the adoption process. Choosing to adopt not only gives an animal a second chance but also helps break the cycle of unethical breeding and overpopulation.
Benefits of adopting a rescue dog include:
- Saving lives by providing a second chance to an animal in need.
- Fostering responsible pet ownership through education and support from shelter staff.
- Discouraging unethical breeding practices by reducing demand for commercially bred animals.
- Enriching your life with a loyal, grateful companion.
This World Rescue Dog Day, FOUR PAWS South Africa urges everyone who is able and ready for the responsibility to consider adoption. Even those who cannot adopt can still make an impact through fostering, volunteering, or supporting their local shelters.
For more information on how to get involved or support animal welfare in South Africa, visit: www.four-paws.org.za
/ENDS
Deidre Daniels
Public Relations Officer+27 (0)21 702 4277
+27 (0)78 675 8220
9B Bell Crescent, Westlake Business Park,
Green Building, Cape Town, 7945
A Public Relations professional with over eight years’ experience in fostering positive relationships between organisations and media.
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FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them. Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. The sustainable campaigns and projects of FOUR PAWS focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, farm animals and wild animals – such as bears, big cats and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones. With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org.za