Dogs Trust has acquired two smaller animal charities as it bids to expand its international work.
Worldwide Veterinary Service and Mission Rabies have merged into a single organisation which will operate as a subsidiary of Dogs Trust.
The trust has long-term relationships with both charities, including helping to fund their work over several years.
The merger is intended to boost the global fight against rabies and improve welfare standards for dogs and other animals worldwide.
The move is part of Dogs Trust’s strategic ambition to become a “truly global dog charity”, it said in a statement. Eliminating the risk of death from rabies transmitted from dog bites is one of the charity’s strategic goals.
Dogs Trust, one of the largest charities in the country, has spent more than £600m supporting dog welfare in both the UK and around the world in the last five years.
It did not disclose how much it cost to organise the merger, but said the charities had been discussing their options for the last 12 months and any resources used were “a very small investment” relative to the impact they hoped to achieve.
WVS, which works in countries including India and Malawi, held assets worth about £2m at the end of 2020/21, the most recent year it filed accounts with the Charity Commission.
Mission Rabies, which works across Africa and Asia, had assets of about £300,000.
The subsidiary will keep the name Worldwide Veterinary Service and deliver Mission Rabies as one of its projects.
It will be headed by Luke Gamble, who is currently chief executive of both WVS and Mission Rabies.
The WVS will continue to be an independent charity and have its own four-person board, chaired by Owen Sharp, chief executive of Dogs Trust.
Sharp said: “Working together will enable us to make a truly transformational difference to dog welfare and to save thousands of human lives as well.
“In addition, it will significantly increase Dogs Trust’s international impact and establish it as the world’s truly global dog charity, with an international footprint spanning five continents.”
Gamble said: “We look forward to making a massive global impact, in terms of both rabies elimination and championing animal welfare in places that desperately need it.”
The number of charity mergers in the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic dropped by a third, to the surprise of experts.
Editor’s note (3 May): This article has been updated to include a quote from Dogs Trust on the resources used on the merger.