Hunter Animal Rescue is a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers who dedicate their time to finding new homes for abandoned pets facing euthanasia. All animals are kept in foster carer homes where they experience a good quality of life. The carers also get a good idea of a dog or cat's personality and suitability for different homes.

We were formed by a small group of self-funded volunteers. Originally, we were foster carers for the PAWS rescue group. Fostering animals from various Sydney pounds and transporting them up to Newcastle to look after them till they found their new homes.

It became apparent after a while that there are many animals in our own backyard (the Lower Hunter) that needed our help, more then what the Sydney animals did as there are so many rescue groups in Sydney and none up here!. So Hunter Animal Rescue was formed, and now we foster Dogs and Cats from various lower hunter pounds and occasionally from Sydney pounds.

In November 2004, Hunter Animal Rescue became an Incorporated Not-For-Profit Association.

• We are completely run by volunteers who spend many hours trying to save the lives of pound animals.
• We have helped reduce the amount of dogs put to sleep in some pounds by 50%
• We have approx 70 members.
• We have rehabilitated pets who have been treated cruelly
• We have rehomed almost 1000 pets

What Is Fostering ?
Fostering is where instead of an animal being put-to-sleep when their allotted time is up at a pound, they get released to a home, where they have a backyard to run around and someone to look after them until their forever home can be found. These carers are all volunteers who provide food, shelter and most of all love while the search is on for it's forever home. Foster Carers are usually animal lovers who, for various reason, are unable to have another pet permanently. We are always in need of new foster carers, the more carers we have, the more animals that can be saved. If you are interested in becoming a carer or helping out in any way, please contact our animal co-ordinator.

How do we know about Animals in Need?
Most of the time our co-ordinator is contacted by a pound who has an animal who they think would be a great pet and do not want to put down. Our co-ordinator then arranges for a carer to be found and for the dog to be picked up and all paper work and vet checks arranged.
Word of mouth is another way we find out about animals in need. Most animals surrendered to us are dearly belovered family pets, who for one reason or another, their families are unable to continue looking after them. They don't want to take their pet to the pound, in case a home can't be found in time, and the animal is put to sleep.The benefits of Adopting a Fostered PetWhen you adopt a fostered animal you are able to get a better understanding of the animal's personality and quirks as they have been in care and not locked up in a cage with other animals annoying them. For example, if the Dog is good with children, cats and other animals; are they shy or active; do they have any quirky behaviours; or are they a indoors/outdoors pet.

Where does the adoption fee go?
The adoption fee reimburses our volunteer carers for the veterinary costs incurred by rescuing an animal and making it ready to be rehomed. These include microchipping, desexing, vaccinations, worming, flea/tick control (if needed) and life-time registration.