Animals housed - 25 saved pets

Some of these animals have found new homes while others are living permanently with the SPCA. Photo / Paul Estcourt

The stories of 25 animals rescued this year.

1 & 2 Bebo and Indie (rats)

Bebo and Indie are two of six rats who live in the office at the animal education centre at the SPCA. The friendly rodents are taken to primary schools throughout Auckland as part of the SPCA's animal education programme.

3 Willow (guinea pig)
SPCA inspectors picked up black and tan Willow in Avondale after they found the stray guinea pig wandering the streets. Willow is now an SPCA education animal and lives in the barn at the Mangere shelter.

4 Pumpkin (guinea pig)

Brown, black and tan Pumpkin was another stray guinea pig, picked up in Favona, who is now also spending his days in the SPCA education programme, where more than 5000 primary-aged children learn about animal care every year.

5 Karin (hen)

Karin was rescued from a boiling-hot car in the middle of summer where she and another 39 ex-battery hens had been packed into four boxes. She was bald and frail when she arrived at the SPCA, but now has a full coat of crimson feathers and is an SPCA education animal who often features in advertising campaigns for the SPCA and Oxfam.

6 Zak (rabbit)
Zak is a retired SPCA education animal who was picked up in St Heliers four years ago. The floppy-eared bunny is now living out his days in peace and quiet in a hutch at the SPCA barn.

7 & 8 Minnie and Moet (goats)

Minnie was only 3 weeks old when she was found at the bottom of a hill with her dead mother. She was taken to the SPCA, where another 3-week-old goat, Moet, had arrived a few days earlier after being found abandoned on a life-style block, tied to a clothesline. The two goats live together at the SPCA's Mangere shelter as part of the animal education programme.

9 Wayne (sheep)

Three-year-old Wayne needed a two-hour operation when he arrived at the SPCA shelter to repair damage to his face and an ear caused by an attacking dog. He was found wandering in rural Bombay, and now lives in the farmyard at the SPCA's Mangere shelter and entertains schoolchildren.

10 Chester (pig)

Chester, a 120kg kunekune pig, is the boss of more than 40 animals who live in the SPCA barn. The black and tan pig was found abandoned on a rural property without food or water when he was 4 months old. He then went on to become the SPCA's first education animal and is a star attraction for the thousands of schoolchildren who visit the barn every year.

11 Juliet (cat)

Occasionally SPCA feline officer Jenna Fowler decides to keep one of the kittens she looks after while they are too young to stay at the shelter. Juliet, a stray brought in by a member of the public, was one such lucky cat and now spends her days with the Fowler family in Three Kings.

12 Gerald (cat)

Gerald, a 4-year-old ginger and white tomcat, was once a stray wandering the streets of Albany. Today, he can be found exploring his backyard and hanging out with the next-door neighbour's cat at his new home in Glendowie. Owner Andrew Taylor spotted Gerald on the SPCA website in May last year, and decided he would make a great addition to the household.

13 Benjamin (cat)

Benjamin was taken in by the SPCA early last year after he was found wandering the streets of Mangere. Now Benjamin is an SPCA outreach-therapy pet who travels to two nursing homes in Auckland every few weeks with his owner and SPCA foster-parent Elizabeth Lumby to give people at the homes a chance to spend some time with a furry companion.

14 Scottie (cat)

Grey and white tabby Scottie was surrendered to the SPCA last year. A year on, the 8-year-old is settled in Pip Callinan's Ponsonby home and has three other cats to keep him company.

15 Max (cat)

Max recently got in a fight with a possum and sustained cuts to his face and ears. He is now on the mend after receiving medical attention at the SPCA veterinary clinic where his owner, Jenna Fowler, works. The black and white cat had already used one of his nine lives on surviving the cat flu he had as a kitten when he was surrendered to the SPCA three years ago.

16 Bowie (cat)


Bowie also had a life-threatening case of cat flu when he was found wander ing the streets of Mangere three years ago. He was nursed back to health by SPCA staff and then, after living at the Mangere shelter for nearly a year, was adopted by Sharon Hunter and taken to his new home in Avondale.

17 Chilli (dog)

Chilli's owners gave her to the SPCA when they could no longer cope with looking after the three-legged dog. Her new owner, SPCA education officer Fiona McDonald, does not know how the 8-year-old lost her right-front leg, but she has noticed that Chilli cowers at the sight of a lawn-mower.

18 Trixie (dog)

Trixie spent the first four years of her life in a cage at a breeding kennel where she produced litter after litter of designer toy-breed puppies. When she was removed from a Pukekohe address last year, she was malnourished and was losing fur. Now the 5-year-old bichon frise and chihuahua-cross has the run of her new home in Manurewa, which she shares with owner Marion Wilson.

19 Blue (dog)

Blue was surrendered to the SPCA when his owners could not afford to pay for the surgery he needed after he was hit by a car. His back-left leg was so badly damaged it had to be amputated. Now the three-legged blue heeler is the centre of attention in his new home, where he lives with the Matthews family.

20 Ernie (dog)

When Ernie the terrier came to the SPCA he was morbidly obese, weighing 20kg, and needing surgery to correct hip bones that were buckling under the weight of his heavy body. But with the help of the SPCA staff there and his new owner, Gwenda King, 8-year-old Ernie is now a svelte 8.5kg and goes for daily walks at the Waiatarua Reserve near his new home in Remuera.

21 Rozie (dog)

Ten-month-old Rozie was dehydrated and hungry when SPCA inspectors found her tied up in a backyard after her owners had left the property. Two years later, the dachshund-cross is lapping up the attention of living with the five members of the Gibbs family in Auckland.

22 Possum (dog)

Owner Devan Devaroyan does notknow how Possum, a brown and white staffordshire-cross, came to be at the SPCA shelter, but she has been awelcome addition to the family. The 4-year-old is now happily settled into her Ellerslie home.

23 & 24 Oscar and Dolly (dogs)

Oscar, a shitzu griffen-cross was given to the SPCA when his owners left the country this year. Now the 1-year-old has a new home with fellow SPCA adoptee Dolly at the Shepherd household in New Lynn. Dolly, a 5-year-old chihuahua papillon cross, had a long stay at the SPCA while he was recovering from surgery to correct his knee caps, which would often pop out of place, before she could be adopted by Anne and Albie Shepherd.

25 Jack (dog)

Jack had been without food, water or shelter for two weeks when an SPCA inspector found him chained to a pole. Three years on, Jack is living on a 5.5ha block of land in Muriwai with three horses, three cats and another DOG. His previous owners were fined and banned from owning another dog for five years.