Ged Doing Great.....

You may remember a couple of years ago we received into our care a very frightened Staffy who was in horrendous condition and had his collar wedged around his body like a sash. It had been there so long that it had become engrained into his fur and the leather had taken the shape of his body contours.

Understandably he was very defensive and wouldn't allow anybody to touch him. With time though I was able to cut the collar off and once he realised I was trying to help him, he relaxed his guard a little.

At the time the BBC's Inside Out were looking to do a programme on us, Geds story fitted perfectly and showed his progression and how despite everything he was willing to trust us.

Fast forward a couple of years and I thought it would be nice to give you a little update on how Ged is doing and share his amazing progress.

Whilst he is still very wary of strangers, who can blame him, he goes out with an ever expanding team of handlers for his walks every day. He thinks the world of his girlfriend, the very special Eden, whilst feed time is definitely his favourite time of the day!

I am so proud of how he has adapted and honoured that he has trusted us all to look after him, it all could have been so different.

Whilst I think moving to a home environment would possibly be too much for him, he is a huge success story in his own right and one I am extremely proud of!

For those who missed it, here's the BBC piece.....

Over £1,000 In The First 24 Hours.....

A quick update on the appeal.... at 1pm so exactly 24 hours in the balance was..... £1052.05.

Sensational, Thank you all so much. Please spread the word and ask family and friends to continue to support.....

https://www.paypal.me/shaksanctuary

An Amazing Response.....

I have to say your response to the £2 appeal has been absolutely incredible. We have haven't even completed the first 24 hours yet and already the balance is an amazing..... £955.50

It would be amazing if we could break £1,000 by one o'clock today!

Thank you all again, this much needed financially boost will make such a difference.

Of course you can still donate if you haven't done so already via the link below:

https://www.paypal.me/shaksanctuary

Can You Spare £2.....

I tried to explain in my previous post how tough a month February is, as the amount of dogs needing help soars out of control. We help as many of the most desperate ones as we can, but our resources are so pushed it is very difficult.

As I'm sure is the case with everybody this time of year,  finances are at a low too and we desperately need them to keep coming in to allow us to continue our work.

On our Facebook page we have have over 6,700 followers, all greatly appreciated for following what we do. However, today we are asking for a little bit more.

Could you afford to give £2 as a one off donation? If all our followers on Facebook did we would raise over £13,400. A massive amount of money at the time we need it the most.

If you could make such a gift it's easy to do. Just follow the PayPal link below:

https://www.paypal.me/shaksanctuary

Our dogs don't ask for much, your kindness at this time of year could really make a difference.

Bruce helping me with the donations this morning.

February Is The Cruelest Month.....

I think every body presumes that January is the time the post Christmas kick outs occur, the Christmas puppies or the dog bought for the family that simply hasn't worked out. However, all my years in this 'industry' tells me that February is the cruelest month. This year hasn't proved any different.

Maybe it takes a little longer for the fad to wear off, and the expense of Christmas finally catches up after being left short after the first payday, I really don't know.

At the moment I am receiving so many phonecalls and emails from people wanting to give up on their dog. I even had one yesterday entitled 'Unwanted Dog.' This was written by somebody about their pet.....

I think here is a good point to emphasise once again that being such a small charity with resources stretched beyond belief, that we simply cannot get involved with members of the public. This is due to the workload we have with the 70+ dogs in our care at anyone time. I do not even have the time to reply to such correspondence.  It is not out of ignorance, just the need outweighing the reality.

Since the end of January we have taken in some really sad cases,  which again adds to our workload, but for one especially the vets needle was the only other option. One didn't get on with the new puppy brought into the house, one turned up as a stray emaciated and riddled with fleas. She's not even a year old. You get the picture.....

Why am I telling you all of this? I just want people to understand the pressure that we are always under, but especially this time of year. The weather obviously makes things even more difficult, sometimes it is a real struggle.

Look at the faces below though, at just thirteen and eleven months, we were their only option.....

Of course you can help in many ways. Please keep your wonderful donations coming, or if you have time to spare and are interested in helping our severely under pressure team then please send a contact number to office@shak.org.uk

Thank you.