Battersea’s global work extends its rescue and rehoming mission beyond its UK centres. It does this mainly by funding, training and advising local organisations overseas, and by convening them with city and national partners. The animals counted in its international figures are cared for by those partner organisations, not at Battersea’s own London and Old Windsor sites. Battersea reports the results itself, so the totals below are its own published figures rather than independently audited numbers.
What the published figures measure
Battersea has published several headline numbers in different releases between 2023 and 2026. They describe different populations and different activities, so they should not be added together or treated as one running total.
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| Figure | What it counts | Date of Battersea’s publication | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than 140,000 cats helped internationally | Cats Battersea says it has helped through its international work | International Cat Day release, 8 August 2024 | Battersea-reported; no audit stated |
| 20 grants worth £4.9 million across six countries, benefiting 348,981 dogs and cats | One grant round, described in Battersea’s release on grant awards | Release of 28 September 2023 | Battersea-reported |
| Almost 350,000 dogs and cats | A rounded description of 20 grants across six countries, given in a separate feline-welfare announcement that refers to the previous year | Feline-welfare announcement, 2023 | Battersea-reported; rounded, so it is not a second, independent count |
| 4,174 dogs and cats vaccinated across nine communities in South Africa | Door-to-door outreach and stationary clinics run by ARRC and HALO, with GARC support | Account of GARC collaboration published September 2026; activity in 2025 | Battersea-reported |
| Representatives from 22 cities in 17 countries | Participants in the first three Dog and Cat Population Management Solutions Labs | Account published July 2025; labs held in June 2025 | Battersea-reported; counts attendance, not outcomes |
Why Battersea runs international programmes
Battersea says it launched its Global Programmes in 2018 to share what it has learned and to help other rescue organisations. Its own account states that the work began after other rescues asked it for advice, training and funding. The aim, as Battersea frames it, is to improve the lives of animals beyond the organisation’s own buildings. Simona Zito, Battersea’s Grants & Programmes Manager, put it this way in the 28 September 2023 release: “At Battersea our mission is to help improve the lives of dogs and cats, not just at our centres, but also across the UK and overseas.”
How the programme works
The model combines three kinds of support: advice and training through Battersea Academy, strategic grants, and ongoing work with rescue organisations. Battersea’s grants page, as it stood in 2026, describes the following components:
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- Organisational assessment. Battersea reviews how a partner organisation is run before deciding what support fits.
- Staff feedback on policies and practice. Partner staff are asked how existing policies work in daily operations.
- Strategy support. This covers planning and fundraising, which Battersea names as areas where rescues often need help.
- Partner convening. Battersea brings organisations together to compare approaches and share practice.
- Connections to Battersea Academy training. Partners can be linked to the training Battersea runs for its own staff and others.
Battersea’s 2022 explainer gives concrete examples of this work. One is helping shelters use “shelter metrics” to track capacity and length of stay, so that intake and adoption decisions rest on data. Another is practical facility improvement. Battersea also describes work on the wider causes that bring animals into rescue, including limited access to neutering and vaccination and too little education on responsible pet ownership. The 2022 explainer is useful for programme history, but it is not evidence of current activity on each example.
Where the work is happening
Battersea’s grants page names four country programme focus areas: Greece, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The table below shows what Battersea has said about each one, with the dates of those statements. Where Battersea’s material names no partner or example for a country, the cell says so.
| Country | Partner or example named by Battersea | Date of statement | Expressions of interest on the grants page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | Nine Lives, a local partner | August 2024 | Open |
| South Africa | Save-a-Pet (local partner); ARRC and HALO (rabies vaccination with GARC support) | August 2024; September 2026 | Not open |
| Sri Lanka | Not stated in Battersea’s published material reviewed | Not stated | Open |
| Thailand | Jai Dog, a street-dog project aiming to improve dogs’ lives through neutering and vaccination | 2022 explainer | Not open |
The Thailand entry is an example Battersea gave in 2022. Battersea has not confirmed in newer material that the project is still running, so readers should check with Battersea before assuming current activity.
Cat welfare and rehoming
Battersea’s cat work centres on partners that place cats into homes and improve the way rescues manage them. In its August 2024 International Cat Day release, Battersea named Nine Lives in Greece, Save-a-Pet in South Africa and the worldwide charity International Cat Care as collaborators.
Rank #3
In December 2023, Battersea announced a three-year grant to support International Cat Care’s Cat Friendly Homing programme. The announced aims included professionalising and strengthening the sustainability of rescue sector organisations, veterinary training in areas such as neutering and shelter medicine, and bringing organisations together to improve cat population management. These are announced aims. Battersea’s announcement does not show that each planned outcome has been achieved.
Rabies prevention
Rabies is the clearest example of Battersea’s systems-level approach. Battersea says it has funded GARC’s Communities Against Rabies programme since the programme launched in 2023. Under this model, GARC links local organisations with tools, training, expertise and opportunities to share practice. Battersea describes rabies elimination as requiring cooperation at local, national and international levels.
Rank #4
In the South African example, ARRC and HALO vaccinated dogs and cats in nine communities during 2025 using door-to-door outreach and stationary clinics. The figure of 4,174 animals is reported in the table above.
Battersea cites a goal of zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030. That target belongs to the wider rabies-elimination effort and is not a result of the vaccination work alone, so the vaccination figure should not be read as evidence of progress toward it. Professor Louis Nel, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, described the problem in the 28 September 2023 release: “While there has been significant progress in recent years, a lack of coordination, reliable data, and investment has prevented the ‘last mile’ of rabies elimination, particularly at the local level.” He also said that “The Communities Against Rabies initiative addresses these historic shortcomings by pioneering a new global grassroots movement, equipping rabies-affected communities with the coordination, expertise, and tools needed to achieve rabies elimination.”
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Population management and city policy
Battersea’s population-management work operates above the level of individual shelters. The Dog and Cat Population Management Solutions Labs were launched by Metropolis, Battersea and ICAM. Battersea’s July 2025 account says the first three labs were held in June 2025 and drew representatives from 22 cities in 17 countries to discuss humane and sustainable management of stray animals. The labs show how Battersea uses its position to bring city leaders together and share policy approaches. They do not, on their own, show what changes resulted in those cities.
Applying for funding and following the work
Battersea’s grants and programmes are listed on its official website and change over time. Before applying or citing a current opportunity, check the live page for these points:
- Country focus. Greece, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand are named as country programme focus areas.
- Open calls. Expressions of interest were shown as open for Greece and Sri Lanka but not for South Africa or Thailand, based on Battersea’s grants page as checked for this article.
- Special programmes. Battersea lists global research, learning exchange and global enabler programmes that are open to applicants worldwide, subject to each call’s terms.
- Closed deadlines. The listed deadline for the global research call was 27 September 2026. That date has passed, so the call should not be treated as open.
What the evidence does and does not show
- Nearly all outcome figures come from Battersea’s own releases and have not been independently audited.
- The quotations above come from Battersea press releases. They are statements of purpose, not independent evaluations.
- No independent comparative impact estimate and no cost-effectiveness data were found for these programmes, so Battersea’s programmes cannot be ranked against one another or against other organisations.
- The 2022 explainer and 2023 releases are useful for history and examples, but current activity should be confirmed with Battersea.
Read together, Battersea’s international work is best understood as capacity-building through partners: funding, training and convening that aim to strengthen local organisations. Its own reports show what those partners say they did. They do not yet show how much better off animals are as a result.
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