Hawke's Bay: Lockdown hit at 'fortuitous time' for SPCA shelters

Napier SPCA's Tania Cameron with puppy Ken. Picture / Warren Buckland

The SPCA says the lockdown hit at a "fortuitous time" in Hawke's Bay compared with last year, due largely to there being fewer kittens in need of adoption.

The SPCA was unable to adopt out animals during alert level 4 but has since been busy rehoming animals once again since the region dropped to level 3.

SPCA area manager Bruce Wills said they coped a lot better this time around with the lockdown falling outside of kitten season this year.

"It hasn't been too bad this time compared to last time we were locked down," he said.

"This time it was good for us in terms of timing in the fact ... we don't have a lot of kittens.

Napier SPCA's Kristina Kennah with mixed breed puppy Ken. Photo / Warren Buckland

"Kittens are the biggest proportion of animals that we deal with.

"With no kittens the demand was much lower thankfully.

"So it happened at a fortuitous time for us."

He said kitten season ramped up generally from November onwards and last year they were "packed" with kittens in their shelters, but were unable to rehome them during alert level 4.

He said adoptions were re-instated during alert level 3 through contactless pick-up and delivery and people could once again visit the shelters at alert level 2.

Go on to their website to volunteer or to see what animals you can adopt or foster.

Wills said they were currently looking to rehome plenty of animals including a high number of rabbits.

The SPCA has three shelters in Hawke's Bay including in Napier, Hastings and Waipukurau.