2023 Junction Award Winner - Country Retreat Animal Sanctuary
Deserving winners of this award, Country Retreat Animal Sanctuary is a not-for-profit charity that rescues and rehomes dogs.
Having always done rescue on a small scale, in 2019 Helen and Gavin started to increase their rescue numbers. In 2020 they became a registered charity and worked towards developing the areas they have now. Since 2019 they have rescued and rehomed nearly 600 pups and dogs, which is an extraordinary achievement. “We focus mainly on pregnant mums and very young puppies as these are two areas that are at high risk,” says Helen. “Unfortunately the mums and pups are often destroyed, as council facilities and lots of other rescues don’t have the resources needed to help them.”
With the cost of living increasing, rehoming is proving more and more difficult. “People cannot afford to look after a dog, and for people who already have them, they now cannot afford to keep them and surrender them to rescues. Also raising funds feels almost impossible at the moment, and all our rescues are fully vaccinated, desexed, flea and worm treated, which is very expensive. Plus often rescues come to us with many different injuries and may have been neglected which often requires vet treatments. We are one-hundred-percent non-profit, everything goes directly to the sanctuary.”
Winning this award means the world to Helen and Gavin and all who work at the sanctuary, because, Helen says, it means that people are acknowledging that they are out there rescuing and rehoming. “The support from our local community is amazing, we have many volunteers who give up their time to come and help us clean, feed, exercise, socialise, and cuddle these rescues. They are invaluable and we could not do what we do without this support.” They are also fortunate to have lots of people in the local community who help raise funds, assist with donations, as well as sourcing items they need for the sanctuary. “We are truly blessed to live in such a wonderful community and I wish I could thank everyone personally for their help,” says Helen.
Hopes for the future, Helen says, are not to be needed, that animal rescue becomes a thing of the past and that legislation would change and it becomes mandatory to desex your dogs unless you are a licensed breeder.
Also now increasing their scope to develop an old dogs area, Country Retreat soldiers on despite the challenges because it’s worth it just to see the happiness and joy, not just on the faces of the rescued dogs and pups, but also on the faces of people and families that adopt them. “It's great to hear of the stories and adventures our extended families have with their rescues. How not only the dogs that are broken get fixed with love, but often so do the people and families who adopt them. It's great to see.”
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www.CountryRetreatAnimalSanctuary.org