News

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/

CORONAVIRUS COVID-19

The team are working hard and ensuring all the animals are well taken care of and the site is still closed to the public. Please do not break government rules by arriving at the Centre unless you have an appointment.

With strict safety measures being put in place for the safety of the public and our staff, we have started rehoming Dogs and Cats as well as our Small Animals. If you are interested in an animal please send in your completed application form. This will then be given to the member of staff caring for him/her. The staff member may call you if they feel you are a suitable candidate to discuss the measures we are taking and talk to you about the animal in question. It would be of benefit to the animals and yourselves if you can have your tenancy agreement to allow animals at the property, if you are renting, when you send in your application as this speed up the rehoming process.

We would like to reassure you our staff are still looking after the animals and government guidelines are still in place with staff being in 3 different teams to allow us to reduce the risk to our staff so they can continue to look after the animals.

Unfortunately we are still not able to accept new volunteers applications at this time but we are still exploring how we might be able to in the future. We know this is frustrating but we ask you to please bear with us. The last thing we want to do is put you, or our team or the animals at any unnecessary risk.

We are happy to be announcing our Charity Shops will be reopening 12th April 2021.

You will still be able to drop off donations to the Centre, please leave them by the door and do not enter the building. However we are unable to take duvets. You are also welcome to use our wish list https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/38G74LH26WN1S/ref=cm_go_nav_hz?fbclid=IwAR0rEG5VdPhjhlu2scMy53LiPUQiaetppWfW031g0EMnSksdLZSdInqo_zk

The Danaher Team would like to thank everyone for their continued support especially in this difficult situation. 

If you have an emergency or concerned about an animal’s welfare please call 0300 1234 999

A big thank you from everyone at Danaher Animal Home to animal artist and cartoonist Ann Edwards, who has kindly donated a series of images for our new Christmas card collection.

Animal artist and cartoonist Ann Edwards has donated a series of images to help Essex-based Danaher Animal Home raise funds with its newly-launched Christmas card collection. Three cards featuring Ann’s designs are now available exclusively in Danaher’s charity shops in Braintree, Chelmsford, Dunmow, Witham, Haverhill, Sudbury and they are also available at Danaher Animal Home in their reception shop. They are part of a series of nine different cards with the aim of appealing to a wide range of customers. The charity is hoping the new range, which also includes gift tags, will help it recoup some of the thousands of pounds it has lost this year due to the cancellation of fundraising activities and the previous temporary closure of its shops and the Centre itself. Ann, whose popular Chef and Sue characters appear every week in the Waitrose Weekend magazine, is well-known for her quirky designs and she has seen her work exhibited in top London galleries and overseas, as well as on a wide range of licensed products. A long-time animal lover, she has always taken her inspiration from the real-life adventures of her own pets – including a parrot – and says she jumped at the chance to support Danaher’s fundraising efforts. “I’m a sucker for rescue animals and when I was asked to contribute to help Danaher at this difficult time, I was only too happy to help,” she said. “The three designs chosen are some of my favourite images, I hope that they bring a smile to the faces of anyone who buys them and receives them.” Julia Askam, Danaher’s area retail manager, said: “We were thrilled and grateful for Ann’s generous donation of her images and we are delighted to say they are already flying out of our shops. “It has been a very difficult year for fundraising and every card or charity item purchased is very much appreciated. We hope all animal fans will love these cards as much as we do. For every pack purchased they are helping us give the animals in our care the best possible future.” As well as Ann’s designs, the card range also features a portrait of a snow-covered bridge taken at Howe Street, near Great Waltham, and a number of other cute and cuddly animal designs.

For more information on how to support Danaher Animal Home and details of its shop locations, please visit www.danaheranimalhome.org.uk.

To see more of Ann’s work, please visitwww.annedwardsart.co.uk

We are delighted to have been chosen for Charity of the Year 2019 by Pets at Home at Freeport Braintree. The Centre has been working closely with them to help raise money throughout the year including their Santa Paws appeal. We would like to thank Pets at Home and all our volunteers who helped with the collections in all weathers, especially Vince Larkin and Ruth Jubb not forgetting all the dogs that attended as well. All the staff and management would like to also thank the generosity of everyone who donated to us or to any of the appeals, by doing this we were presented with a cheque for a staggering £4406.76.

Pets at Home have also informed us we will continue to be their Charity of the Year for 2020.

Danaher Animal Home, near Wethersfield, is playing a key role in a nationwide project to help children in care learn about animal welfare.

The centre’s first Animal Action Day, held on October 29, is part of the RSPCA’s Generation Kind programme.

Danaher’s chief executive officer, Deborah Satchell, said: “We were thrilled to take part as we believe the education of future generations is the best way forward in helping to improve kindness to animals.

“This is a really important initiative and it gave our young visitors the opportunity to learn about animal behaviour, to realise that animals have feelings too, and to understand what they need to feel happy and healthy.”

During the event the six children, who were all accompanied by carers, spent time making up enrichment toys for small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs; visited the cattery and kennels; and enjoyed a tour of the educational facilities. It was also an opportunity for them to hear stories about some of the animals brought into Danaher, to listen to the experiences of the animal care staff and to hear from an RSPCA inspector.

It is hoped that further similar events will be held at Danaher in the future.

Hannah Mehta, the RSPCA’s Regional Prevention and Education Adviser (South-East), who attended the event, said: “The Danaher team was keen to become involved in Generation Kind and we were very grateful for their enthusiasm and support in helping children in care in learning about animal welfare.

“The Animal Action days are part of an ongoing project with the overall objective of creating a world that’s kinder to animals. Being able to interact with animals, especially pets, can represent a powerful opportunity to promote self-esteem, encourage the development of empathetic concerns and positive social interaction.”

Originally set up as part of a two-year pilot programme funded by the National Lottery, the Animal Action Days were so successful that they are now funded by the RSPCA Generation Kind budget.

Although Danaher, which helps over 700 animals a year, is affiliated to the RSPCA, it is completely self-funding and relies entirely on donations and fundraising to cover its annual operating costs of around £800,000.

For information on Generation Kind, visit https://www.rspca.org.uk/whatwedo/education

Photo shows Hannah Mehta (left) and Deborah Satchell promoting the five welfare needs of animals as part of the Generation Kind programme.