Dog theft UK – ITV News
As a UK dog rescue charity, whilst we are fighting to help the abused and abandoned dogs overseas and in Romania, those who have no voice of their own, we also have a responsibility to our dogs here in the UK.
Appalled by the increase in dog thefts across the UK, founder Alison Standbridge, and Adoptions Manager Kerry Heselton, were interviewed by ITV News. Highlighting dog thefts across the UK and supporting campaigns for harsher sentencing, we were proud to be spreading the word. Our face of Paws2Rescue, Novak made his first TV appearance too!
One of our team dogs, Zander, was proud to be a poster boy for our UK campaign, warning owners to be more vigilant:
Whilst here in the UK we were in lockdown, our team kept themselves incredibly busy. We started the month with the excitement of being invited to join the Doggy Lottery. Thanks to our amazing supporters buying tickets, we won the lottery and received just under £1,500! Part of the donations went to help this boy:
Lying in the rain in horrific pain at the side of the road, he had been hit by a car. Everyone drove past and ignored him, an animal in pain, wet and unable to move. Our rescuers in Baia Mare took him in, and the Doggy Lottery named him Lotto. The vets unable to save his leg that was torn to shreds, he had an amputation.
Now a tripaw happily living in the UK with his adoptive family, Lotto has kept his name and has become a mascot of the Doggy Lottery too!
Another momentus achievement for us, as we nominated for the 8 th year in a row as Animal Charity Team of the Year in the Petplan Awards 2021:
Back in Romania and more team for the amazing team at Adapostul de caini din Baia Mare we they found Joanie. She had been abandoned in the snow, but not just abandoned – she had been tied to a fence with a chain just inches long – meaning that she could not even lay down or find a way to keep warm as the snow fell. She was so skinny and cold, and would have died for sure if we had not found her:
A sight that truly broke our hearts, one of our adopters fell in love too. Joanie is now happy and living in the UK, where she plays on the beach every day with her brother. A true miracle for this special girl:
With dogs being abandoned or hit by cars almost every day, our rescuers, team and partner NGO’s rescued over 200 dogs and puppies between February and the end of April. A devastating number, and we hope that this increasing number is not going to become a pattern as we have at times been overwhelmed with animals to help and thousands of Euros in vet bills to find too. Here are just a few of the rescues:
With adoptions to the UK “paused” in January and February due to lockdown restrictions, we started again in March, and started welcoming our new arrivals again.
With strict coronavirus precautions in place, we have been honoured to make so many families complete with their rescue. We now have over 4,000 dogs adopted and living their happy ever after.
With lots of planning as we all stayed indoors during lockdown, we prepared for our largest fundraiser ever. In 2020, we started plans to build a sanctuary in Western rural Romania, a sanctuary to help rehabilitate dogs, a clinic to neuter in the area. Along with Melisa, our dreams started to become a reality as finally the land was “signed off” by local authorities for a sanctuary to be built.
With the land fenced, we knew that we had to raise the money to build the sanctuary and we turned to Give As You Live to help us with an idea.
Supported by Ricky Gervais, Jane Fallon, Wendy Turner-Webster, Gary Webster, Sam Janus and Big Yellow Self Storage Sutton, we launched our campaign to raise the £25,000 needed.
We needed 100 people to raise £250 each. By walking 20km each, the 100 people will have walked 2,000km. The distance between the UK and our new sanctuary in West Romania.
In Romania, the stray dogs, and the dogs in our rescuers care still need the monthly food and vet treatments – with food bills alone almost £8,000, our fundraising always continues.
With Brexit temporarily halting our food transports from the UK to Romania, we have been buying food locally all year – many tons of basic dry food and lots of nice wet food to mix in too. Rescuers using their own transport to take the food from the supermarkets:
It isn’t just dogs and cats! In Moldova Noua, one of the poorest regions of Romania, and these are just some of Monica’s rescues. With horses, cows, sheep, goats and more to care for, buying salt lick, hay, straw is also vital to help. We have taken in two new horses who were in horrific conditions, and other abused animals. Brave Monica fighting for their lives every time.
April brought the news that our first mobile vet clinic had finally received authorisation from the local government. This means that it can now start work in rural Romania. Our vet will use the clinic for neuter campaigns and also to help animals in rural areas with basic needs and treatments. The clinic is fully equipped to carry out basic surgeries too:
A celebration within the team too in April, as we were awarded the prestigious accreditation of Investing in Volunteers. We are so proud to be an Investing in Volunteers (IiV) achiever, and it is an achievement of our work within the charity focusing on individuals and the heartbeat of Paws2Rescue – our volunteers.
Investing in Volunteers is unique in that it is the only standard that focuses on volunteers. It is based on the following six quality areas: 1. Vision for Volunteering 2. Planning for Volunteers 3. Volunteer inclusion 4. Recruiting and welcoming volunteers 5. Supporting volunteers 6. Valuing and developing volunteers.
We could not be prouder to have been awarded this accreditation:
Our design manager SJ, so proud to be a part of Paws2Rescue and modelling our team tops so beautifully.
One of our team dogs Mo was one of the first to read the new book Worst. Idea. Ever. A brilliant new book, launched in April by Jane Fallon, Mo was only too happy to be a Promo Dog:
Always supported by the alternative fashion industry, Dragonlady Products and Integrity Magazine, we were so excited to see our logo on the front cover, an honour to appear alongside the beautiful model Ashley, and with such a kind write up about our work inside. We are so proud of our friendship with these amazing kind hearted people:
In December 2020, we bought a vet clinic with our partner NGO Asociaitia Alma in Moldova Noua. We are so sad that we have not been able to go over to Romania, but we are very much a part of the transformation into the vet clinic that once looked like this:
Now transformed with a new dividing wall to make more rooms and to start looking like a vet clinic:
With the new equipment arriving weekly, we are getting excited to know that within a month or so, the clinic will finally be opening its doors.
Throughout every month – every week and every day, our neutering continues.
In Ortisoara, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home support our neuter campaign
In another area in Romania, we neuter the dogs in the forests and return them:
We also have continuous neuter campaigns in Harlau and Brasov for cats and dogs.
We have held many one off campaigns over a weekend, in Turnu Magurele for cats, in Focsani and
Iasi and we will continue to carry these out too.
PAWS2RESCUE HAVE NOW NEUTERED OVER 10,000 CATS AND DOGS
Which is an enormous achievement that we are so proud of – knowing that we are helping to reduce the stray dog and cat populations.
Rescuing dogs from public shelters has continued each month, so happy that this beautiful girl found her happy ever after in Germany. We will always continue to save dogs from public shelters, many of whom are on “death row”.
With so many miracle dogs and cats, rescued from shocking conditions, and with some serious injuries, we have transformed so many lives with your amazing support. Thank you to everyone who plays any part in supporting us, sharing, donating – it all makes a huge difference to each life we touch.
This smile simply says it all, thank you:
