Love bites as pets find new homes | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

There were some matches made in heaven at the SPCA's annual adopt-a-thon in Napier.

Held over Valentine's weekend each year, three puppies, five cats, four kittens, two guinea pigs and one rabbit left the Napier SPCA for new homes.

The annual event provides an opportunity for people looking for a pet to adopt, and provides awareness about homeless animals for the SPCA.

SPCA acting director Lorna Thompson said they'd had a lot of people showing interest.

Unfortunately they had not sold more than the previous year, which was a record nationwide for the event.

"We were hoping for a bit more [adoptions] in the way of cats and kittens, but it is better than we've had for a couple of weeks, so it's been really good," she said.

"We possibly did a bit better last year," Ms Thompson said, "the rain yesterday, it probably kept people away.

"It just reminds people that we're here, and we've got animals to adopt. It's just a good opportunity to do that and get nice homes for these babies that we have."

This year's Adopt-a-thon was the SPCA's fourth, with 2011's event being its most successful to date. More than 630 animals nationwide found homes during last year's Adopt-a-thon and the SPCA was hoping for a record 1000 adoptions at this year's event.