Community Outreach Programs


For more than 150 years, RSPCA Victoria has been a place of refuge for animals, with much of our work focused on responding to reports of animal cruelty, sheltering and rehoming animals in need. RSPCA Victoria’s Prevention approach and program initiatives empower communities to build their understanding of good animal care and support a world where animals and people live together with dignity, respect, and compassion.

RSPCA Victoria works to prevent animal cruelty and neglect before it happens, creating a better world for animals by promoting positive animal welfare and helping communities grow stronger together.

The objectives of these programs include:

  • Healthy, well-cared-for animals in communities of need
  • Fewer unwanted pets entering shelters
  • Reduced preventable illnesses
  • Stronger companionship benefits between people and pets
  • Lower costs for local governments, freeing resources for positive outcomes

Supporting Victorian Communities

Through our Community Outreach programs, we’re making education and good pet welfare accessible to everyone and helping more Victorians to value the human-animal bond and better care for their animals.

Explore our programs, clinics, and sessions, and learn how RSPCA Victoria is supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our community to keep their pets and care for them well.

A banner for RSPCA Healthy Pet Days

Healthy Pet Days

  • Free vaccinations, microchips and health checks for concession and pension card holders.
  • Location and dates vary.
  • Open to residents of the local council area where the event is taking place.
  • This program is supported by Petbarn Foundation.
See upcoming locations
Low cost community vaccination clinic banner

Community Vaccination Clinics

  • $69 dog or cat vaccination and health check.
  • Location and dates vary.
  • Available to anyone in the community.
See upcoming locations
A women sitting on a bench looking over a bay with her dog.

SafePaws Program

Our SafePaws Program is an RSPCA Victoria initiative committed to ensuring people and their pets can find safety together during times of crisis. The program provides practical support through vital provisions or pet-accommodation solutions, complemented by education and advocacy to help drive lasting change.

Learn more

Peninsula Pet Net

We’re working in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne to prevent animal cruelty before it begins by providing low-cost and means-tested services, along with education, and emergency support. The program aims to build empathy, change behaviours, improve human and animal health while providing a safety net for pets in the region.

Learn more

Mobile Animal Care Unit (MAC)

RSPCA Victoria has teams across the organisation ready and willing to provide post-disaster assistance. Over the years, our dedicated outreach teams have travelled to bushfire-ravaged and storm-damaged areas providing support, pet supplies and resources to help members of the community and their animals who had been impacted.

Following Black Saturday bushfires 2009, the RSPCA decided that a community-funded mobile animal care vehicle was desperately needed for emergency situations. The idea of a Mobile Animal Care unit (MAC) evolved and launched in 2012.

The RSPCA Mobile Animal Care Unit in Australia

MAC is a multipurpose vehicle that will transform animal welfare in Victoria. The vehicle includes:

  • Mobile surgical facilities, which allow our expert veterinary team to take their services ‘on the road’. MAC includes a fully operational vet theatre for emergency surgery and contains all of the equipment needed to treat animals, including sterilising units, an anaesthetic machine and oxygen tanks.
  • A communication hub to ensure our teams can be contacted in remote areas, with access to the internet and radios for communication.
  • A housing area to safely contain animals before and after surgery.
  • Power points, lighting, air conditioning and two small fridges, all powered by a generator.
  • Running hot and cold water, which is essential for surgical procedures and general animal care.

MAC is also an invaluable resource for our Inspectors on large-scale cases when the presence of a vet to assess the health of animals is needed. It also helps to extend our reach to remote areas by providing mobile veterinary services to animals in need.

We would like to sincerely thank those who supported our bushfire appeal, as a small portion of these funds has helped make MAC a reality.

Be pet prepared for an emergency

Planning for emergencies can be part of life in Victoria, especially during the summer months. Read our emergency planning guide to help make sure you and your pets are ready should you need to evacuate or leave home unexpectedly.

Emergency planning guide

Vaccination Clinics

Our low-cost community clinics offer preventative dog and cat vaccinations & health care checks.

Learn More