FAQs

PetRescue’s Best Friends' Walk is a month-long charity walk taking place from 1st to 30th September.

It’s a flexible challenge where you choose a distance to walk to raise money to help homeless pets find their very own best friend through PetRescue’s adoption platform.

Simply set a distance and fundraising goal, then during September, walk, run, ride or roll to reach your challenge goal.

You will have access to an interactive portal to help reach milestones, unlock prizes & draws, plus manage your fundraising.

Whether your bestie is a dog, cat, bird, horse, lizard, or human, this event celebrates the bond we share with our pets and lets you get active for a great cause!

Click here to read more about how it works!

September! Fundraisers have the flexibility to walk, run, roll, or even swim (keeping your best friend’s comfort in mind!) at times that suit them best, throughout September.

You can walk anywhere you and your best friend would like to—whether around your neighbourhood, on a bushwalk, at the beach or in a park. Remember to keep safe and watch out for other best friends on a mission to help pets find love.

That’s up to you! We’ve made some suggestions below, but you can choose any distance you’d like to aim to walk throughout September that will challenge you.

10km: Suggested for senior doggos, adventurous cats or those that prefer play over a walk.
30km: This goal equals just 1km a day for the month-long challenge for less active furry friends or little puppers with little legs.
50km: Could be longer, more leisurely strolls or set this goal to achieve with your bigger BFF with bigger strides!
80km: Suggested for active doggos (and humans!) that love adventures.

Just make sure it’s suitable for your furry best friend's abilities, too. If your bestie is a homebody, the best part of this fundraiser is that you can choose the way you move, like an obstacle course in your backyard or a scavenger hunt inside your home.

PetRescue’s Best Friends' Walk is a flexible challenge designed to get you moving and supporting a great cause! Here's how you can participate.

Register:

• Head to the Best Friends' Walk home page and sign up by clicking ‘Register now’! You can participate solo or form a team and create a fundraising group with friends, family, or fellow pet lovers.

PetRescue’s Best Friends' Walk is a flexible challenge designed to get you moving and supporting a great cause! Here's how you can participate:

Choose Your Challenge:

Choose how far you and your BFF will walk during September. It could be 30km, 50km, or even further! Every step you take helps homeless pets find love.

• Feeling adventurous? Walk, run, swim, roam, roll, or even dance your way to your chosen goal.
• Focus on fun! Pick a challenge that’ll be enjoyable and achievable for you and your best friend, whether you commit to a brisk walk around the block or an energetic jog in the park each day to reach your goal.

Fundraise:

Set your fundraising goal and share your challenge with everyone you know to dig deep and sponsor you. Funds raised will go toward finding a home for every pet that needs one!

Walk:
Pick the path that suits you and your best friend – then stroll, roll, ride, or roam during September.

We love all furry/feathered/scaled/hairy participants! If your pet bestie is joining the fun, keep these things in mind:

• Consider their fitness level and age. Choose a total distance that you can break down into smaller distances that are comfortable for them to walk each day over the month of September.
• What if your furry friend doesn’t like walks? No worries! Instead, create a fun obstacle course or treasure hunt at home for them to enjoy, go on a sniffari or commit to learning some new tricks. Get more ideas here.

Remember:

The key is to get active, spend time with your BFF, raise awareness for a good cause, and have some fun!

No need to dip into your treat stash – joining PetRescue's Best Friends' Walk is free!

As a national charity walk throughout the month of September, it’s all about taking on the challenge and spreading the word to your friends, family, colleagues, sporting teams and social networks to rally them to the cause and sponsor you.

You can register right up until Sunday 29th September 2025 at 11:59pm AWST.

We recommend registering early to give yourself enough time to rally your supawters and raise funds, as well as go in the draw to win some pawsome prizes!

You can keep fundraising after you’ve completed your challenge. Make sure you boop everyone you know and share your goal! Fundraising will officially close on 10 October 2025 at 11:59pm AWST.

If you’re a guardian to multiple pets, you can most certainly register your whole crew! Simply start by registering yourself as a participant. A field will appear for you to add your BFF’s names. The more the merrier, the more wags (or purrs or chirps) for homeless pets!

Remember, this walk is all about having fun and raising awareness. While you map out your route, keep your whole menagerie in mind. If you have a sprightly young pet and a senior one, maybe plan shorter walks with plenty of rest breaks or do home activities like scavenger hunts as part of your challenge so everyone can enjoy the adventure.

Yes! You can join the Best Friends' Walk Facebook Group here! It's a fantastic space to connect with fellow pet guardians, keep up to date on all things Best Friends' Walk, including treats and prizes, ask any questions you may have and get even more inspired by the heartwarming stories of pets who’ve found love and a new best friend.

Creating a team
Creating a team is as easy as fetching a ball! First, you’ll need to sign up here. Follow the prompts to set up your fundraising profile and create a team!



Next, share your team page or team name to invite your buddies or workplace pals on board to raise funds for PetRescue.

You can give your team a catchy name and personalise your fundraising page with a description and a fun team photo. 

Then, share your team page on social media, email and in any other way possible to spread the word. 

Keep track of your progress, and watch as your team rallies together to help homeless pets find their best friends. 

Joining an existing team
When signing up to participate in Best Friends' Walk, simply follow the steps until you reach the ‘Create or join a Team’ page.

Instead of following the prompts under ‘create a team’, click ‘Join a team’ and you will be able to search for your team.

Yes! Absolutely! What a great way to make new friends (furry or human) along the way.

Funds raised during the Best Friends' Walk go directly towards PetRescue’s adoption platform and adoption assistance programs.

Find out more about how your fundraising helps here. 

Read more about PetRescue’s work here.

PetRescue is a national not-for-profit organisation on a mission to help you discover the joy of adopting a new furry family member. PetRescue.com.au is the go-to place for finding a rescue pet and is Australia's most visited charity website! We're best known for our pet adoption platform and for using technology to drive positive change.

But that’s not all! PetRescue supports rescue organisations, councils, vets nationwide, and pets in need. This includes large-scale food and product donations (totalling over $13.2 million!), a pet transport program, crisis care support, an assisted rehoming program, and more! PetRescue’s tools and digital support make life easier for rescue admins, helping them manage pet listings, handle adoption inquiries, and fundraise online.

Find out more here.

• Set up a personalised fundraising page and share it on social media!
• Ask friends, family, and colleagues to sponsor you.
• Get creative! Host a bake sale, car wash, or dog walking service to raise funds.
• Track your progress and update your fundraising page regularly to keep people engaged.

Sharing your fundraising page is quick and easy! You have the option of sharing your individual fundraising page or your teams page. See below for how to navigate both of these options.

Sharing my fundraising page
Start by logging into your fundraising profile on the Best Friends' Walk portal.

Once logged in, click the icon marked with your name in the top right-hand corner of the page. A dropdown menu will appear. Click on ‘My Fundraising’ and then ‘Dashboard’. As pictured below, you will find a link to your fundraising page, and next to this, you’ll see options to share your page to Facebook, X, LinkedIn or via email.



Sharing your Team page
Once logged in, click the icon marked with your name, in the top right-hand corner of the page. A dropdown menu will appear. Click on ‘My Team and then ‘Dashboard’. As pictured below, you will find a link to your Team’s fundraising page, and next to this are options to share your page to Facebook, X, LinkedIn or via email.

There's no limit to the good you can do! Every dollar you raise helps homeless pets find their new best friends. How pawsome would it be to reach your target?

They sure do! Every donation over $2 gets a tail-wagging tax benefit! Those receipts get sent straight to the email address that was shared at the time of donation. Sometimes they might take a playful detour to the spam folder, so we suggest having a quick sniff to see if it’s hiding there! If it can’t be located, please direct them to our team for support via bestfriends@petrescue.org.au

1. Download the Fitbit, MapMyFitness, or Garmin apps and set up your account.
2. Log in to your Best Friends’ Walk dashboard.
3. Once logged in, click the icon marked with your name in the top right-hand corner of the page. A dropdown menu will appear. Click on ‘My Fundraising’ and then ‘My Fitness Activity’.
4. Under the heading 'Connect your preferred fitness app', click your chosen app.
5. Follow the prompts to connect your account.
6. When you start your walk, select 'start your workout' in the app on your phone. Once you end your walk, save it in the app and your distance will be published on your fundraising page the following day.

1. Log in to your Best Friends’ Walk dashboard.
2. Once logged in, click the icon marked with your name in the top right-hand corner of the page. A dropdown menu will appear. Click on ‘My Fundraising’ and then ‘My Fitness Activity’.
3. Scroll down, and on this page you’ll find the option to ‘Add activity’. Fill in the fields, including the date and distance, then click the green ‘save changes’ button at the bottom of the page.
4. The number of kilometres will now appear on your fundraising page for everyone to see!

You can update your address by logging in to your Best Friends’ Walk dashboard.

Once logged in, click the icon marked with your name in the top right-hand corner of the page. A dropdown menu will appear.

Click on ‘My Account’ and scroll down to the ‘Postal Address’ field.

We also suggest reaching out to our friendly team to inform them in real time and ensure your pet bandana is sent to the correct address. Please contact us via bestfriends@petrescue.org.au

We completely understand and respect your privacy. If you have already registered to participate in this year's Best Friends' Walk, you can add in an ‘Alternate Display Name’. 

To do this, log in to your fundraising profile on the Best Friends' Walk portal.

Once logged in, click the icon marked with your name, in the top right hand corner of the page. A dropdown menu will appear. 

Click on ‘My Account’ and under the ‘Personal Details’ section you will find the field ‘Alternate Display Name’. Once this has been added, please be sure to scroll to the bottom and click the green ‘save changes’ button.

With this new Display Name Added, this will be the only name displayed publicly on your fundraising page and on Leaderboards. 
Please note- we recommend keeping your First and Last name in this section as this helps our team should we need to post prizes or send a tax-deductible donation receipt.

No worries! If you can’t access your Best Friends' Walk account you can reset your password by going to the Best Friends' Walk page, clicking 'Login' in the top right hand corner of the page and when the prompt appears click ‘Forgot password?’

You can then send a password reset email to your account!


Resetting Password
If you have access to your account and wish to reset your password simply login to your account. In the top right hand corner click on your name and when the dropdown menu appears click 'My Account'. Once on this page, select the 'Reset Password' heading and follow the prompt to reset your password.

Our friendly team can help with any technical issues you're experiencing. Please just reach out to us at bestfriends@petrescue.org.au and share details of the issue you’re experiencing, along with screenshots, to further assist us.

Our friendly team can close your fundraising account. Please reach out to us at bestfriends@petrescue.org.au

That’s fantastic you’re interested in adopting a pet! PetRescue and Best Friends’ Walk are all about connecting pets with their human BFFs. Here are two ways to get started:

1. Browse adoptable pets: Head over to the PetRescue website at www.petrescue.com.au. There, you’ll find a searchable database of adoptable pets from rescue organisations and shelters across Australia. You can filter your search by species (dog, cat, etc.), breed, location, and even age or size.
2. Set up pet alerts: Let the perfect pet find you! On the PetRescue website, you can create an account and set up email alerts for pets that match your criteria. This way, whenever a new pet that fits your ideal furry friend description gets listed, you'll be notified right away!

There are some truly tail-waggingly good prizes up for grabs for all our furry (and not-so-furry) friends who join PetRescue's Best Friends' Walk. Want to sniff out what you could win? Check out all the exciting treats, here!

Excessive panting, lagging behind, whining, or looking disengaged are all signs your pet needs a break. Prioritise their comfort over completing the entire distance in one go.

Walk during cooler times of the day (early morning or evening). Always carry plenty of water and offer it frequently. Look for shaded paths and avoid walking on hot asphalt. Consider cooling bandanas or vests for your pet.

It's always a good idea to carry a basic pet first-aid kit. For more serious injuries, stop the walk and seek veterinary attention immediately.

Leash, harness, comfortable walking shoes for you, poop bags, and plenty of water for both you and your pet. Consider a portable water bowl for easy hydration on the go. And if you’re travelling a fair distance with your intrepid friend then a basic first aid kit for you both is recommended.

Can’t sniff out an answer to your question? Get in touch with the friendly humans at PetRescue by emailing bestfriends@petrescue.org.au

The Best Friends' Walk is a fantastic way to get active with your pet, but there's a whole world of activities waiting to be explored! Here are a few ideas to keep the wags (or purrs or chirps) going:

• Obstacle Courses: Test your pet’s physical prowess and mental agility! This is a great bonding experience and provides excellent exercise, especially if your pet finds it difficult to leave the house because of anxiety or other behavioural issues. 
• Fetch: This classic game is a fun way to burn off energy and practice retrieves. Choose a fetch toy in a size and weight appropriate for your pet, and head to an open field for some fetching good fun. Be sure to supervise play and reward successful catches with praise and treats.
• Swimming: If your pet enjoys the water, swimming is a low-impact, refreshing way to exercise. Pools, lakes, or beaches (where safe and allowed) can be fantastic swimming spots. Always supervise your pet in the water and ensure they have a life jacket if needed.
• Hide and Seek/Treasure Hunt: This isn’t just for human kids! Engage your pet’s natural curiosity with a game of hide and seek. Hide treats or their favourite toy around the house or yard and encourage them to sniff them out. This is a mentally stimulating activity that can be adapted for pets of all abilities.
• Brain Games: Keep those minds sharp! There are a variety of interactive toys and puzzles designed to challenge your pet mentally. These can help prevent boredom, stimulate problem-solving skills, and provide a rewarding activity.

Remember, the key is to choose activities that your pet enjoys and can safely participate in. If a walk is not an option, there's a whole world of fun adventures waiting to be experienced with your furry best friend!