Danaher Animal Home launches Meet & Greet building appeal
Danaher Animal Home, near Wethersfield, is kicking off National Pet Month (April 1 - May 10) by launching a major fundraising campaign for a new multi-purpose Meet & Greet and dog training area.
The home has already raised more than £45,000 towards the project and hopes to double that total with help from local businesses, organisations and individual donors.
Chief Executive, Deborah Satchell, says: “National Pet Month is all about promoting responsible pet ownership, creating awareness of the benefits of living with pets and encouraging fundraising for pet welfare charities, so we thought it was the perfect time to launch our campaign.
“We know this is a really big ask at such a difficult time for everyone, but we truly believe the new building will go a long way to improving successful long-term rehoming for the many animals we take in every year.
“It doesn’t matter how big or small the donation, every penny counts and we will be incredibly grateful for any support to help us transform the lives of unwanted pets.”
Every year the Home takes in around 250 dogs, giving them a safe and secure temporary home whilst making every effort to find them a permanent new home with loving owners.
Deborah says it’s really important to have a secure indoor space where animals can take time to get to know their potential new owners and have safe off-the-lead introductions with any existing pets in a family.
At 10m x 20m, the new building will also provide space for the Home’s experts to carry out behavioural training and there are plans to install typical household items, such as vacuum cleaners, hairdryers and TVs, to help the dogs acclimatise to different noises and appliances.
Longer-term, it is hoped the building will also be used for educational events promoting animal welfare to local schools and other interested groups.
The full cost of the project is expected to be around £90,000 and, having lost more than £120,000 through the closure of its charity shops and cancellation of fundraising events because of the pandemic, Deborah says she hopes local organisations may consider supporting the charity as part of their corporate social responsibility programmes.
She concluded: “This is an excellent opportunity for organisations and individuals to join us in our ongoing commitment to supporting the lives of the dogs in need and give them the best chance of a happy and content forever home.
“At the same time, we want use this opportunity to share the skills and experience we have in animal welfare with the wider community. We believe it’s really important to do everything we can to help educate people about caring for animals and, as we currently don’t have the space to do so, this building will finally enable our goal to become a reality.”
For more information about Danaher and how to help, please visit www.danaheranimalhome.org.uk
For more information on National Pet Month, please visit https://www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk/