People have pets for several reasons, but most new owners have a genuine interest in giving a rescue pet a forever home and treating it as a family member.
Reality of Pet Ownership
However, sometimes circumstances change or the reality of pet ownership is not as the owner imagined. In these cases, people feel compelled to give up their pets. The safest option is to surrender it to an established rescue charity and let the experts find a new home for the animal.
Sometimes though, a family friend or a friend of a friend will come to the rescue of a pet having to find a new home! I meet many dogs that have found successful new homes through word of mouth. The saddest thing is when family pets are simply dumped, sometimes in remote out-of-the-way places or even boxed up or tied to the gates of animal rescue charity properties.
Giving an unwanted or abandoned pet a new home is always noble. So, if you think this is the best option, consider what pet you can offer a home. Take into consideration your family circumstances, how much the pet will need to be home alone, how much it will cost to keep and what will happen to the pet when you need to go away. Once you have an idea of the right pet, where can you start looking in the local area?
Not Just For Cats And Dogs!
Two of the most popular and well-established independent dog rescue charities in the area are North Clwyd Animal Rescue in Holywell and Almost Home Dog Rescue in Mold. Wales also has its own greyhound rescue organisation. Retired and rescued greyhounds are renowned for making excellent pets – find out more at greyhoundrescuewales.co.uk
Looking a bit further afield, Grinshill Animal Rescue in North Shropshire is long-established and has both dogs and cats for adoption.
North Clwyd Animal Rescue also have cats looking for new forever homes. However, one of the most well-known cat rescue organisations is The Cats Protection League, and Wrexham has its own branch. Find out more at cats.org.uk/wrexham
North Clwyd Animal Rescue also have rabbits needing new homes, but you could also try Rabbit Rescue North West, which covers Cheshire, Manchester, Derbyshire and Lancashire. Further information is available at rabbitrescuenorthwest.co.uk.
Wrexham is home to one of the most well-known horse and pony rescue organisations, The Hack Horse Sanctuary. This charity rescues neglected, abused, cruelly treated and abandoned horses, ponies and donkeys to rehabilitate and find new forever homes.
North Wales also has its own reptile rescue body called North Wales Raptor and Reptile Sanctuary. The organisation covers North Wales and the North West. You can also try Cheshire Reptile Rescue.
Finally, don’t forget that if you want some chickens, thousands of ex-battery hens need new homes every year. They are always so friendly and so productive. Try Chicken Rescue UK and the British Hen Welfare Trust.
Happy rescue pet hunting!
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Author: Karen Boyce for Love Wrexham Magazine
Karen Boyce is the owner of Beastly Thoughts Professional Dog Service (BTPDS), the largest pet dog training establishment in Wales. BTPDS specialise in puppy training and reactive dogs, but offer a whole host of obedience training classes, lectures, webinars and online training hubs and groups. Karen was named Animal Star Awards Dog Trainer/Behaviourist of the Year in 2019. Tel: 07970 488 395 Email: info@beastlythoughts.co.uk Additional Instagram profile: beastlythoughtsdogservices
