Northumberland animal rescue owners highlight the winter struggles to find funds as donations slump

As the cost-of-living crisis and winter chill bites, more and more animals and former pets in the county are needing help from important rescues and charities.

Although Christmas generosity and fundraisers can help, many organisations are noticing a new year slump.

Alnwick based, Shak The Sanctuary, provide care for dogs who would otherwise be put to sleep due to medical issues and expensive vet bills.

Shak have three shops in Amble, Alnwick and Blyth that contribute to funding but times are hard for the charity, and in just January alone, the sanctuary has had to pay huge amounts for important surgeries totalling to over £5000.

“The lead up to Christmas and everything since has been the worst for a few years,” explained founder, Stephen Wylie.

"Because of the cost of living crisis, more people are getting rid of their dogs who have health problems and everything’s gone up, so it has just been one big spiral of a nightmare month.

"You have this huge build up of people very kindly delivering food and drinks and bedding and collections in offices, and then the reality of January hits and it all kind of dries up and it becomes very difficult.

“From experience, its this time of year now that people have had a couple of paydays and then they suddenly realise they cant afford a dog. There’s certainly an element that people don’t think things through and don’t realise how expensive things can be.”

JJ’s Cat and Kitten Rescue are a Northumberland based rescue helping cats who are lost, unwanted or abused to find their forever homes. The rescue have rehomed 200 cats since August 2023.

Joanne co-founded the rescue, alongside her friend Joan after years of fostering animals. She said: “It tends to be this time of year when it starts to get really cold that we get all the older cats that may have been left behind or never had a home at all.

"We get a lot in that have had accidents or who have been attacked by other cats because its just the time of year they can't fend for themselves.

"Its really sad the amount of cats that we get where its just because they haven't taken responsibility for them, they're not neutered and they're not microchipped. People don't think of the longer term, cats can live for 20 years they're a huge commitment and a financial commitment”

Expanding, Joanne said: "As a rescue we pick up all the financial burden of vet treatment, medication and also the daily care. It could be a month or six months that it takes to get those cats better and find a home.

“There’s no financial gain in it for us, we do it because we care and we enjoy it and we've met some really lovely people through doing it.”

Both rescues stress the importance of donating what you can, taking responsibility for the ownership of pets and adopting over buying to ensure that they can continue to operate and help animals in need.