Throughout the year Battersea’s centres continued to be
here for dogs and cats in need. Our three centres received
1,606 dogs and 1,508 cats in 2020. Covid-19 restrictions
led to a reduction in the animals we were able to take in, but
we also received fewer enquiries from owners seeking to give
up their dogs and cats. A comprehensive survey of animal
partners and Local Authority dog wardens confirmed that this
was a nationwide issue, with a marked reduction in animals
being relinquished by their owners.
With fewer animals arriving at our centres, we
sought out opportunities to increase Battersea’s direct
care for animals by giving support to other charities. We
are now supporting the RSPCA with veterinary care for cats
and dogs rescued by their inspectorate in London. We also
helped Blue Cross following a large backlog of surgical cases
post-lockdown at all of their London hospitals. Battersea’s
clinic team was in a position to make use of theatre capacity
to treat Blue Cross surgical cases on an outpatient basis,
and the charity brought 19 dogs to our London centre for
veterinary treatment in the two weeks before London went
into Tier 4 lockdown.
Battersea also continued its important work in
partnership with StreetVet, a charity that delivers vital
veterinary care to animals belonging to homeless people.
In 2020, we provided temporary boarding at our London
centre for 12 dogs being helped by StreetVet when their
owners sadly faced difficulties looking after them.
We completed a series of facility development
projects, ensuring that Battersea is fit for the future
and can provide the best care for dogs and cats with
more complex medical or behavioural needs.
At our London centre, major development works
were completed in 2020, including the opening of
a new reception entrance area and state-of-the-art
Hydrotherapy suite. At our Old Windsor centre,
construction of The Duchess of Cornwall Kennels
was completed and officially opened by our Royal
Patron, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall in December.
The facility includes a dedicated maternity area and
puppy paddock; just one way in which we are ‘futureproo
fing’ for any uptake in numbers of expectant
mothers of puppies being abandoned post-pandemic.
At our Brands Hatch centre, we made improvements
to our kennels and cattery, as well as creating new
grooming and working dog training spaces, ensuring
we can provide the very best care for animals that
need to be relinquished by their owners.
IN FOCUS - Making a Splash
When 18-month-old Border Collie, Charley,
came into Battersea, our clinic team
discovered that he had a dislocated left
hip. It was a longstanding injury, making it
impossible to simply replace the joint, so
our expert vets removed the ball part of
the ‘ball and socket’ hip joint so that it no
longer rubbed on the side of his pelvis, the
weight then being taken by the muscles
surrounding the hip.
It was important to return Charley
to his feet as soon as possible after the
surgery and to carry out gentle physio in
order to maintain as full a range of joint
movement as possible, and to build up
muscles that had wasted due to the length
of time he had carried his injury. Luckily
for Charley, during his stay at Battersea
our brand-new Hydrotherapy centre was
completed and our team of hydrotherapists
were able to start treating dogs that would
benefit from the facility.
With a 6x3m pool and underwater
treadmill, the state-of-the-art facility —
made possible thanks to the support of
our donors — is a welcome addition to our
London centre. Designed to help provide our
dogs with additional exercise opportunities
to meet their medical, emotional and
physical needs, the Hydrotherapy centre
is not only ideal for dogs such as Charley,
who require post-operative care and
physiotherapy, but for dogs who may simply
benefit from the exercise and enrichment
opportunities it provides. When restrictions
allow, we will fulfil our promise to be here
for every dog by opening the facility up to
members of the public whose dogs would
benefit from hydrotherapy.
We quickly adapted our rehoming approach to
help us respond to a surge in demand while still
safely adhering to Government guidelines. This
helped us to rehome 2,538 animals last year,
(1,121 dogs and 1,417 cats), across all three
Battersea centres.
Our Communities programme, where
volunteers take animals into their homes and
seek to rehome them through participation
in community events and localised marketing
activity, was impacted by Covid-19, with many key
activities cancelled, and fewer animals coming
into our care. Thirty-one animals — 26 dogs and
five cats — were rehomed through our Guildford
community in Surrey, and a new community set
up in Ashford, Kent. A series of partnerships with
local organisations (such as Age UK and Anchor
Hanover in Guildford) were established, and a full
programme of community activity and promotion is
ready to launch once restrictions are eased.
Unlike other rescue organisations, Battersea
will never turn away a dog or cat based on breed,
age, condition, or any other factor. Despite the
dedication and care provided to every animal that
comes into our care, some are either medically
too unwell, too dangerous to be rehomed, or there
are legal reasons which result in us having to put
the animal to sleep. We never take this decision
lightly and instead work continually to keep these
numbers to an absolute minimum. In 2020, we
successfully reunited or rehomed 80% of dogs
and 93% of cats.
IN FOCUS - A Match Made Online
In response to unprecedented rehoming
demand, our online rehoming application
system was rapidly scaled-up and we
introduced virtual rehoming when we could
no longer welcome customers on site, using
video calls and footage to introduce animals
to potential owners remotely. We also began
rehoming by delivery, with staff using our
Battersea vehicles to take dogs and cats to
customer’s homes, and in the case of our
dogs, carrying out rehoming introductions in
secure gardens and outdoor spaces.
Shadow, a six-year-old Siberian Husky,
became one of the first Battersea dogs to
be rehomed through virtual rehoming. After
registering their interest in adopting a dog
via our website, John and Lois Waters from
Leicester had a series of calls, including
video calls where they ‘met’ Shadow online.
John says, “This was new for everyone,
so we went in open-minded. We had never
rehomed a rescue dog before and this was
our first time going through the process.
The application went through quickly and
was followed up with several discussions
on Zoom. We saw Shadow and knew
immediately that we wanted to rehome her.
Battersea made it possible due to the virtual
option — it was the flexibility and innovative
approach that allowed for this to happen.”
Our charity is not just committed to helping dogs and cats, but also
supporting pet owners through any means.
In a rapid response to the challenges of the pandemic,
Battersea’s website, content, email, and social media strategy were
quickly adapted to elevate advice content. This allowed us to continue
supporting many thousands of new, less experienced pet owners
through a potentially difficult time.
A new website section, ‘Make yourself at home’ was created
featuring advice for pet owners needing to self-isolate, training tips,
recipes and crafts. This received more visitors and engagement than
any other Battersea website section and a new pet advice email series,
‘The Battersea Way’, gained 18,000 subscribers.
IN FOCUS - Training The Battersea Way
At the end of 2020 we launched online training courses to support
a new generation of puppy owners, many of whom were missing
out on the normal opportunities to socialise their new pet with
other humans and dogs as a consequence of lockdown. Fiftyseven
dogs were indirectly helped through Battersea’s virtual
puppy training classes after they launched in September, and in
our survey of attendees, 86% (19) of respondents felt the classes
were easy or very easy to participate in online.
One such participant was Shane Hollyhead from Kent, who
attended one of our online training courses with wife Amy and
their puppy, Digby. Shane says, “We thought long and hard about
rehoming a puppy during lockdown, taking into account what
life was like at that point and how Government guidelines would
impact our ability to properly socialise a new dog. The content and
advice provided by the Battersea training course helped massively
with Digby’s general obedience and has boosted our confidence in
being able to raise a well-rounded dog going forward.”
With restrictions on the numbers of animals we could take into our
centres, we also set up a dedicated dog and cat behaviour advice line
to help owners respond to any problem behaviours they encountered
at home. Our free helpline received 1,020 enquiries from dog owners
and 81% of these cases were positively resolved. The Canine Behaviour
team provided behavioural advice and support to an average of 85
members of the public each month, a 40% increase on 2019.
