Help our vital new campaign - The Mayhew Animal Home

An important
Mayhew message
With the pet overpopulation crisis at an all-time high and rising
numbers of abandoned and abused strays arriving at rescue charities
daily, The Mayhew cannot sit idly by. Find out more about our vital
new campaign to promote neutering.
The Mayhew’s charity ethos is to be there to help
both animals and their carers. This means a
commitment to both individual cases of animals
in need and also addressing more complex
animal welfare issues as a whole.
One of the biggest problems we currently face
as a rescue charity is the pet overpopulation
crisis. Numbers of cats and dogs are spiralling
out of control as ‘backroom breeders’ produce
litter after litter that then get sold online, passed
around or often simply dumped when new
homes cannot be found in time. Many of these
animals end up in rescue centres as a lot of
people do not comprehend the commitment
they are taking on or the financial impact of
caring for a dog, or cat. It is then left to
charities, like The Mayhew, to pick up the pieces
and provide care for these animals.
The Mayhew has always been an advocate of
neutering – the hallmark of responsible pet
ownership. We put our money where our mouth
is and have been running low-cost neutering
programmes for more than 12 years and our
unique free bull breed neutering initiative began
at our Community Veterinary Clinic in 2006.
However, running these community initiatives
simply isn’t enough. Without effective
government legislation addressing the stray
animal crisis and pet overpopulation, it is left
to charities to mop up the overspill and run
schemes to address this issue at its root cause.
This May, The Mayhew launched its new
neutering campaign message across the
boroughs of London through an impactful bus
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The Mayhew
stop and phonebox poster campaign, combined
with a letter delivery to over 125,000 households
explaining the work we do and why neutering is
the essential choice for responsible pet owners.
Enclosed with this edition, you will find a
bookmark which we have produced to promote
our campaign through a wide range of
distribution methods.
The Mayhew’s CEO explains why a public
campaign to raise awareness about neutering
is so important:
“With kitten season now in full swing and
unwanted litters arriving almost everyday at our
doors, not to mention the daily calls about pups
bought over the internet or from a pet shop and
then no longer wanted after a few weeks, I am
reminded time and again how important it is
to get our message about neutering out there.
I am very proud of The Mayhew’s record in
this regard; not only do we ensure that no
animal goes to its new home without being
neutered, a policy that every responsible rehoming
organisation should adopt, but through
the services of our onsite Community Veterinary
Clinic we offer both free and low-cost neutering
appointments for all. The Mayhew is unique in
that there is no restriction on who can use our
clinic services: you don’t have to live in a
particular catchment area, nor do you have to
be on a low income – the main issue is that the
animal is neutered and The Mayhew wants to
make neutering as accessible as possible to all
pet owners and lovers.
In 2011 The Mayhew vet team neutered 2009
dogs, cat and rabbits – a fantastic achievement!
More than a third of those operations, 719, were
free of charge through our flagship Free Bull
Breed Neutering programme and our Trap,
Neuter, Return project for London’s feral cat
community. Such numbers would not have
been achieved without the generosity of our
supporters and some grant-making bodies
that allow us to continue these vital services.
The Mayhew would dearly like to see the
government more obviously advocate and
promote neutering to address the very real dog
and cat overpopulation crisis in this country,
rather than leaving it to animal welfare
organisations, already overstretched dealing
with the aftermath, to provide such subsidised
services. But in the meantime, The Mayhew
will continue to put out the core message that
neutering is the hallmark of responsible pet
ownership and continue the provision of our
free and low-cost schemes while resources allow.
This spring we have launched a wonderful new
campaign aimed at cats, which seems so timely
following a day, recently, when we took in nine
kittens from two different litters alone. We are
sure, that you, our supporters, will help us
spread the word. Presently, there are simply
too many animals and not enough responsible
owners so the kindest action is to neuter – you
will be saving lives and preventing suffering.
Thank you.”
Caroline Yates, Mayhew CEO
If you want to help spread The Mayhew message about neutering and responsible pet ownership,
please get in touch and let us know whether you can help us distribute our flyers, posters or
bookmarks. Call Charlotte Galvin on 020 8968 2446 or email charlotte@mayhewanimalhome.org.
www.mayhewanimalhome.org
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