The RSPCA, which is currently caring for more than 4,800 animals, will restart rehoming and fostering animals in its care in England from this week.
 
Frontline teams from the charity have continued to rescue animals throughout the crisis but they have been unable to find them new homes, meaning that thousands have remained in its care.
 
Now Defra has approved guidelines, put together by the Canine and Feline Sector Group, to allow animal welfare charities in England to rehome safely during the pandemic, the RSPCA will start finding homes for the animals in its care using a new safe process.
 
In recent weeks* there have been more than a million visits to the RSPCA rehoming pages online - a rise of almost 30% and a staggering 600% increase in interest in fostering with more than 115,000 visits to our fostering page.
 
Chris Sherwood said: “We have continued to rescue and take in animals in need through this crisis and our frontline staff in our animal centres have done a sterling job in really tough circumstances, giving them the care and love that they need.
 
“But nothing can replace the care that a pet receives in a loving home so we are thrilled that we are going to be able to start finding them the families they desperately need right across England.
 
“Safety of the public, our staff and, of course, the animals is our highest priority and we have developed guidelines to ensure that we can rehome, foster and provide ongoing support for adopters and fosterers in a safe way. This means our animal centres will remain closed to the public and we have developed a number of measures to make sure we can maintain social distancing while finding animals new homes.”
 
Some RSPCA rescue centres and branches in England will begin to rehome and foster this week. This will vary from site to site, so please check with your local centre or branch.
 
In line with Defra-approved guidance for England, animal centres will remain closed to the public and the new, temporary RSPCA rehoming and fostering process will involve:
 
• Finding an animal on the RSPCA’s Find A Pet web page, completing a Perfect Match form and emailing it to the rehoming centre
• All adopters or fosterers must live within about an hour’s drive of the centre where the animal is being cared for.
• All discussions will take place via phone or video call
• Adopters and fosterers will get to ‘virtually meet’ their potential pet with videos sent to show them their behaviour and give them a deeper understanding of their pet’s personality
• Home visits will be done virtually, through photos or video walk-through the home
• All pets will be transported to their new homes and handovers will observe social distancing
• All ongoing support will be done virtually.
 
The RSPCA is hoping to find loving homes for animals like best friends Angel and Tinsel (pictured above) who are currently being cared for at Southridge Animal Centre in Hertfordshire.
The stunning pair are looking for a home together as they completely adore each other. When they came into RSPCA care they were very nervous and little was known about their past,  and it took a long time to win over their trust. But staff are sure that with time and patience these beautiful girls will make amazing companions as they have so much love and affection to give.

Staff at RSPCA Southridge Animal Centre are also hoping they can find a new home for gorgeous Billy who has had it tough during his little life.  The RSPCA was first made aware of Billy when he was a stray cat struggling to survive. It’s thought that while living as a stray he damaged his paw, which is now slightly clubbed and twisted. Billy was rescued and taken into the care of the centre who managed to find him a new home. But heartbreakingly his new owner's circumstances changed and Billy had to be returned back to the centre - due to no fault of his own. Billy is 11 years old and after such an unlucky time the RSPCA hopes they can find him that perfect forever home where he can live out his retirement in comfort surrounded by love. Once Billy learns to trust you he can be really affectionate and likes a cuddle on a lap.

RSPCA pet welfare specialist, Dr Sam Gaines, added: “For some families this will be an ideal time to settle a pet into a new home when there is plenty of time to give them all the love and attention they need, but we would urge people to make sure you plan for the future when the family eventually returns to work and school to make sure you can continue to give them the care they need for life.”
 
The RSPCA will start rehoming cats, dogs and small pets this week, and is looking into whether it is able to rehome horses in the near future.
 
Due to the current crisis, some of our rehoming centres have limited staff available to take calls and emails so may take longer to respond to enquiries.
 
To help the RSPCA keep rescuing animals like these and keep our animal hospitals and centres running for emergency treatment and round the clock care through these unprecedented times, please donate whatever you can spare at www.rspca.org.uk/covid