Helping pets and their people for 100 years
Last year, we celebrated 100 years of Woodgreen – an incredible milestone that reminded us how far we’ve come, and why our mission still matters.
In our centenary year, we continued to shift our focus towards supporting more pet owners before they reach crisis point – keeping pets in their loving homes, while also continuing to be there for homeless and abandoned pets in need.
Read on for a snapshot of our Annual Report highlights.
people given advice and support
pets helped in homes across communities and beyond
pets rehomed: 758 cats, 561 dogs, 239 small animals
We introduced our new Pet Helpline Service. This led to a 180% increase in enquiries being resolved during the first call, creating a better experience for pet owners. We also developed three new online dog advice tools – including a breed profile matching resource – which offer easy-to-follow content that informs and educates owners. Over 190,000 people accessed this advice during our testing phase!
Over the last year we’ve been working to improve our entire rehoming process. This has involved restructuring our teams to make every step more efficient, and it’s already making an impact – dogs are spending less time in our centre and finding loving new homes sooner.
We made great strides in our efforts to support more pet owners in their home, which is at the heart of our new direction as a charity. Throughout the year, we helped a total of 5,744 pets at home. As part of this, we delivered 12 community programmes across Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire – supporting pet owners with health and wellbeing checks, pet food supplies, and much more.
We continued to lead the way in the animal welfare space and published our first research paper. This investigated how we can improve pet welfare and reduce the number of pets being given up. The paper was shared widely among the sector and raised awareness of our vital work.
When Patricia’s health declined, she became reliant on carers for support – not just for herself, but for her beloved dog Mitzy, too. That’s when one of her carers reached out to Woodgreen for advice.
Community outreach officers Serena and Steph arranged a visit to Patricia’s house. Patricia shared how much Mitzy meant to her – she was her one constant in life, and best friend. Patricia’s poor health had prevented her from providing Mitzy with certain aspects of her care. Serena gave Mitzy a full health check and noticed her teeth were in poor condition.
We suggested taking Mitzy to our centre for a closer look with our Surgery team. They could see her teeth were in very bad shape. All of them needed to be removed to free her from pain. So that’s what they did, and soon enough Mitzy was back home – curled up next to Patricia where she was happiest.
Serena continued to provide regular health checks for Mitzy in her home. Then a few months later, she arranged for her to see a groomer. Afterwards, she looked like a brand-new dog – Patricia was absolutely delighted!
Thanks to our Community Outreach team, Mitzy is healthy, happy and back home with her favourite person by her side.
“It was an absolute pleasure to help Patricia and Mitzy so their companionship could remain. What may feel like basic support is a lifeline for those in need.”
As well as providing shelter and rehoming, we need bold new approaches to tackle the issues facing pets and their people. And we have an exciting new strategy to meet the challenge.
At its heart, this will involve stepping up our efforts to be there for owners at the right time with the right support – and keeping more pets in their loving homes.
Read about our recent achievements, and future plans, in the full Annual Report.
Thank you to our supporters
None of what we’ve achieved over the last year was possible without you. Thank you for making a difference to the lives of pets and their people.
We’re dedicated to helping pets and their people at every step of the pet ownership journey. And, of course, we’re also here to help pets in need – giving them safe shelter, specialist care, lots of fuss and a brighter future.
For a deeper dive into the impact of our services last year, there’s lots more to read in our full Annual Report.
You can give as much or as little as you like, either as a one-off gift or ongoing monthly amount. It's simple to do, and makes an immediate impact to the pets in our care.