Medivet clients give 1 million donations to rhino campaign
Melanie May | 5 September 2019 | News
Medivet clients have now given one million donations, raising £500,000 for the Medivet Saving The Rhino campaign with Wilderness Foundation Africa.
The contributions were made over the past four years using Pennies and hit £500,000 this week. The millionth donation was made at Medivet 24 Hour Shrewsbury. Medivet clients are offered the opportunity to add 50 pence to their veterinary bill to support the campaign.
The funds raised have played a crucial role in helping to protect the rhino – enabling Wilderness Foundation Africa’s Forever Wild Rhino Protection Initiative to support the endangered animals through a range of activities. This includes the treatment of poaching attack survivors plus the care and rehabilitation of orphaned baby rhinos.
Advertisement
Medivet client donations have also enabled two cold scent tracker dogs to be deployed with anti-poaching units, and support to be provided for intelligence-sharing amongst local law-enforcement agencies. Funds have additionally been deployed to help drive global awareness, and provide community services as well as field-based veterinary equipment.
Medivet launched its Saving the Rhino campaign in 2015 in partnership with Wilderness Foundation Africa, which is part of a global alliance of charities that aims to protect and connect wilderness, wildlife and people.
Dr John Smithers, Senior Partner and Project Co-ordinator for Medivet Saving the Rhino, said:
“We could not be more grateful to our clients for all they have done to help the survival of this iconic species. Their incredible generosity – combined with the support of our colleagues and partners – has made a real difference in the fight against poaching and we want to thank our clients for every donation made.”
Alison Hutchinson, CBE, CEO of Pennies said:
“Pennies is proud to support Medivet’s Saving the Rhino campaign, and it’s been so inspiring to see one million individual micro-donations made through the digital charity box over the past four years.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.