After 30 years of incredible community engagement and fundraising, the RSPCA made the difficult decision to end the Million Paws Walk.

The community fundraising landscape has changed dramatically since 2020, with rising costs and current cost of living pressures making it increasingly hard to sustain the event.

RSPCA explored ways to make participation more affordable and maintain viability, but the cost structure ultimately made it impossible to continue without compromising the funds needed to support animal welfare.

Why can't we just increase the ticket prices? The RSPCA wants to keep events accessible for as many people as possible, but with the cost of living impacting communities, raising ticket prices could make it further out of reach for some supporters. The goal has always been to balance affordability with fundraising, but unfortunately, the rising operational costs have made it difficult to sustain this balance.

In time, RSPCA will explore new ways to engage the community and create opportunities for people to support animal welfare. However, RSPCA is currently focused on celebrating MPW one last time in 2025 and ensuring that the legacy of this event is honored.

Any new initiative will be carefully developed to ensure it aligns with both community needs and financial sustainability.

All Million Paws Walk events are being hosted on Sunday 25 May 2025. Please refer to the Find a Walk page to confirm the date of your closest event!

The events are organised and run by the RSPCA in each state and territory. Many of the regional events are organised by the region's Branch, Shelter and/or Volunteer Supporter Group, which are dominantly volunteers.

All dogs that participate in Million Paws Walk must be fully vaccinated, socialised and remain on lead at all times.

As much as we'd love to see your favourite pet/s there, in the interest of animal welfare and safety, this is a strictly dog-only event.

Our events generally go ahead, rain or shine, unless there is a safety risk posed by extreme weather. In the case of inclement weather on the event weekend, we recommend you check with your local state RSPCA for updates. Be sure to keep an eye on your chosen event's webpage for the latest updates too.

All proceeds from Million Paws Walk go to supporting the ongoing work of the RSPCA to care for animals in need. The money you raise online, as well as sales from the merchandise you buy, all goes towards improving animal welfare. It keeps the doors of our animal shelters open and our Inspectors on the road, while also providing community education on animal care and welfare issues.

Don’t worry – we've got you covered! We know how important it is to show your appreciation, so we’ve already set up a functionality which automatically sends a thank you email to your donor as soon as they make a donation. You’ll find this within your dashboard.

Another way is to include thank you notes to your donors (and don’t forget to tag them) in your social posts when asking for more donations! Many people love to be publicly acknowledged for their kind donation and support.

All donations over $2 are tax-deductible, however ticket fees are not. You'll automatically receive a receipt for your tax-deductible donations via email.