A Herald campaign has made a difference for the abandoned pets of Auckland, with hundreds of animals at the SPCA village being adopted after stories about them began running in the paper from Boxing Day.
SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge said hundreds of people had visited its animal village in Mangereto adopt pets over the holiday period.
"For cats, kittens and puppies the figure has increased by more than 50 per cent," he said.
"It's been remarkable and a joy to us to see these animals put into homes."
He said that 493 little lives had been saved thanks to the dedication of SPCA staff, the publicity generated by the Herald, and the kindness of those families who had elected to adopt an animal.
Since the Herald began running it series of stories, 103 cats, 317 kittens, 10 dogs, 46 puppies, six rats and 11 rabbits have been adopted from the SPCA village.
