They say that a dog is for life.
But the Impawtant Pups Rescue Centre has been so busy it now finds itself running out of funds.
Mail reporter JOHN CROSSLEY spoke to one of the centre’s founders, who is calling for people to give unwanted animals a loving home.
ADOG rescue charity has made a desperate appeal to Mail readers for families and donations to help animals in their greatest time of need.
Impawtant Pups Rescue says it has now run out money after driving hundreds of miles around the country to save dogs from being put down.
The problem has escalated at a time of year — post-Christmas — when dog pounds are at bursting point.
The not-for-profit charity was set up by Emma and George Nicholson in 2003 to rescue puppies from pounds, before rehabilitating and re-homing them.
Mrs Nicholson is asking Mail readers to come forward to help the animals in their time of need.
“I really wish I knew why it was so bad at this time of year, it could be so many factors,” she said.
“I do know that around the UK there are so many dogs on ‘death row’ and the pounds are full. Unfortunately this means that rescuers don’t have as much time to look for new homes or arrange transport to get these dogs to safety.
“Some pounds are brilliant and will work closely with rescuers to do everything they can to save the dogs.
Some work very strictly to their sevenday policy. It really depends on the pound and how full they are.
“On average it costs us £150 to rescue a dog. One of our biggest costs is fuel to travel around the UK to collect these dogs.
“During one week recently I travelled more than 400 miles to rescue dogs.
Now the funds have run out.”
Mrs Nicholson said the centre was taking donations as well as going to car boot sales to try to bolster funds, but with the number of dogs they had rescued it meant money was still in short supply.
On top of that she has been running dog training classes and she ploughs all of the proceeds back into helping more animals.
The 31-year-old said: “We get the odd donation but apart from this we fall back on our own wages and savings because these dogs are worth saving.
They are incredible loving dogs that didn’t ask to end up in a pound.
“We ask for an adoption fee to help us cover the cost of the next rescue but with so many dogs in foster homes it means we have no funds coming in but so much going out.
“We do not have kennels so depend on the kindness of volunteer foster homes.
“We are absolutely desperate for dog and cat-free foster homes as a lot of the dogs we get are great with people and children but they just are not good with cats and dogs. Unfortunately most people who want to foster already have at least one pet.”
Anyone wanting to take on a dog can email impawtantpups@gmail.com or call 07926 249449.
