Save PAWS- Help save our rescue from closure!
Todmorden, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Aim
To help gather enough funds to purchase a new home before we face court in January 2023 after our landlord giving us notice.
- Media enquiry? Please e-mail Erin at [email protected]
PAWS need a forever home!
Our lease has officially ended so we are living in borrowed time. Our landlord refuses to budge so we have to face a judge in January 2023. If we don’t find a new premises by then we’re going to be forced to close down. We need to raise £300K in order to secure our forever home, so we can continue helping vulnerable and abandoned animals.
We need to find a forever home to keep our animals safe and give them the second chance they deserve. Our pets save us every day, now it’s our turn!
Who we are
PAWS has been in the area for many years now and during that time we have rescued and rehomed over 1,500 animals. We offer pets a second chance at a happy and fulfilled life with a new family. We started in 2007 when our centre manager Sue used to work at a stall in Todmorden Market. She then decided to help foster some dogs. She lived in a flat with her bed, tv and lots of dog crates! (Sounds like the dream TV, Bed and Dogs!).. The vet bills got far too much so she decided enough is enough and went to the local paper to ask people to help her set up a rescue. 25 people turned up to a meeting room in a fire station and Voila! PAWS was born! We got registered charity status in 2014.
A gorgeous baby one of 4 kittens who were rescued with their mum from a Wendy house.
What we do
2.7 million animals enter UK shelters every year and we know this only too well. We have a waiting list as long as your arm and it rarely slows down! We rescue, rehome, and rehabilitate cats and dogs in the lovely Calder Valley and beyond. Sue had a dream to not limit who could rescue. We treat every case on its own merit regardless of age, location or ability. We just recently rehomed our greyhound Trish to a gentleman in his 90s!! (She has been helping to dig his garden if he likes it or not!). We offer a lifetime membership for all our animals so if a person’s circumstances change we take the animal back no questions asked.
Danny the beautiful Siamese who was abandoned and very thin! He got his forever home but eventually passed away as he was very ill. He had a happy life in the end :)
Why we need to stay open
We are from a small market town in West Yorkshire where the towns motto is Kindness (and they mean it!). We run lots of events throughout the year including dog shows, fun days, coffee mornings and even our Town crier signing at the Train station. We have people from all ages enjoying showing their dogs at our shows and coming back to support us again and again. We have a family of whippets who enter nearly every dog show with a Grease themed fancy dress act. More importantly, we have students come from our local college to help. We also have people with mental health issues who have been signed off work to come spend time with our animals for some time out. We’re in the business of saving animals and people too.
Trish making a royal visit to our monthly coffee morning in Todmorden with one of our volunteers Amy!
The Todmorden Town Crier helping us Judge one of our Dog shows!
During Covid
During the first lockdown we didn’t want to disappear off the map, so we ran online cat and dog shows and had a lot of fun. We have seen a massive influx of “Pandemic Puppies” who are not trained and have severe separation anxiety. Our gorgeous Charlie was passed around and then dumped on Bacup moor to be found by a farmer. He is such a good boy and he is still waiting for his forever home. He is just one example of how covid made an impact on animal welfare.
Charlie looking like butter wouldn't melt!
Reggie very much enjoying his new forever home in Scotland! From ex race dog to mountain goat.
What we need
We need 3-5 acres of land that either has a building or a footprint of a building. We need to buy a new site where we can build kennels and a cattery. It needs to have good access for a static caravan (Our centre manager Sue lives on site 24/7!) as well as ample space to give our dogs off lead exercise and cat pens big enough so our felines can safely roam. If we had the space we could improve the living quarters for the cats and dogs and also increase our capacity to offer a rescue space for animals in need.
We know £300K is a massive ask and we want to be completely transparent with our lovely supports on where exactly your donations will go:
Legal Fees: Approximately £10,000
Bills (Electric): Approximately £5,000
Vet bills: Approximately- £6,000
Planning: Approximately- £20,000
Land purchase price: £150,000-£200000
Moving Costs: Approximately: £15,000
Build out: Approximately- £75,000-£100,000
Electric over the winter: £ 5,000- £10,000 approximately
Just a few of some of our over 1,500 animals who got their second chance at happiness!
Thank you
Keep an eye out for our fundraising events on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
PLEASE, PLEASE help us raise this money – the dogs and cats in this area desperately need us to continue offering the help we provide when they are no longer wanted, or their owners are no longer able to look after them. Without PAWS they would have no second chance of a happy outcome.
Lots of Love from Sue and all of us at PAWS!
(Yes we even provide Christmas Dinner for our PAWS residents!)
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Charity No: 1159544
@pennineanimalwelfaresociety
This project successfully funded on 31st December 2022