We passed! We’re officially full members of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes
23 January 2025
We are pleased to announce that as of December 2024, we are officially members of the Association of Dogs & Cats Homes (ADCH), recognising our extremely high animal welfare standards and excellent operational procedures.
Established in 1985, the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes is the leading representative charity for dog and cat rescue and rehoming organisations across the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. ADCH promotes the safeguarding of welfare standards for dogs and cats needing new homes and supports those working and volunteering in the sector.
Following a thorough application process, we’re proud to have joined 160 registered charities, sharing the ADCH’s high welfare values and connecting with a network of like-minded organisations in order to to address common challenges, collaborate on solutions, and strengthen our collective impact on animal welfare.
All members of the association are required to undergo an in-depth assessment process, which explores the ways in which the charity meets the association’s welfare standards. When deciding whether or not to award membership, the ADCH follows a strict set of guidelines in order to assess the charity’s operational standards, including their ability to:
- Safeguard animal welfare
- Improve and maintain good practice in animal welfare
- Assist in preparing for licencing of the animal welfare sector, and run concurrent to existing legislation
- Operate safely based on their staff to animal ratio, taking into account each individual animal and their needs
- Operate based on veterinary advice / work closely with veterinary professionals
- Able to demonstrate, through training records and work or volunteer experience, the ability to discern how to apply the five welfare needs (see below) to all animals under their care.
Further information about the minimum standards required to be a member can be found here.
It is also a membership requirement that each individual animal cared for by the organisation must have its five welfare needs met. They are:
• The need for a suitable environment
• The need for a suitable diet
• The need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns
• The need to be housed with, or apart, from other animals
• The need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease
Through being awarded full membership, we’re proud to have not only met many of the ADCH’s minimum standards, but to have also excelled in a number of areas, especially in relation to the way in which we always act in the very best interest of the animals we care for.
Chloe Shorten, Head of Animal Welfare at RSPCA, commented on the news:
“It’s been so amazing to become part of the ADCH – what an achievement to be considered worthy of full membership. We look forward to gaining advice and sharing our knowledge to collectively be the best team possible for our animal companions.”
We join the Association at an exciting time, as they’ve just launched their 2024-2030 strategy, which outlines their commitment ensuring that the animal welfare sector is consistently making a real difference and enhancing the lives of dogs and cats across the UK and Ireland. By the end of 2030, they want to see at least 50% of the sector working with the Association, to ensure charities are collaborating together to vastly improve welfare standards year-on-year.
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