Please support Raystede's Christmas appeal! - Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare

Raystede has 450 animals that need your support now!

When Topsy arrived at Raystede we estimated that she was about 18 months old and we think she is a Spaniel, but it was hard to tell because she was covered in sores from the mites that cause mange. To ease her condition, our Animal Care Assistants treated her skin and got rid of the awful parasites that had left her with hardly any fur.

Beautiful Topsy had been kept in a confined space with no exercise so had not built up any muscle
around her hindquarters. She also had lots of gunk on her teeth from a poor diet. In addition to treating her health conditions, we also fed her small amounts of food every two hours, she was so emaciated that normal feeding would have caused her to be sick.

Topsy has been recovering well and although she is still very nervous, she is growing into a wonderfully, gentle little dog with a zest for life.

Donate to help animals like Topsy this Christmas

This year we have seen a 56% increase in people needing us to take their pet, and at the same time, the number of people applying to adopt a rescue animal has declined by over 36%.

We are facing an animal welfare crisis, and we expect the situation to get much worse over the festive season.

You may know that during the pandemic when people were at home, many acquired a new pet; but now owners’ circumstances may have changed and they are being forced to reconsider their decision; and unfortunately the cost-of-living crisis is compounding this. But the problem isn’t just that we have more animals at Raystede, unfortunately, many of them need complex care.

Donate to help the victims of the animal welfare crisis

Coco had a terrible start in life but she has transformed whilst at Raystede

One of the victims of the animal welfare crisis is Coco. Coco’s start in life was terrible – at just one year old, she had never been taken outside, not even for walks and she had already been used for breeding. We were heartbroken when we saw her for the first time, she was nervous, suspicious of people and emotionally in a very poor state. Her physical health was no better, she was thin, had poor coat growth and lacked muscle tone.

Now, although Coco needs ongoing support, we are confident that she will find a home, where she can experience the love she has so sadly missed in her young life. To provide the behavioural training, food, warm bed and care a dog like Coco needs, costs £28 each day – that is why I hope you can help by giving a donation this Christmas.

Donate today to help animals like Coco

We knew that Coco needed time and special care, but we didn’t give up on her as we knew we could unlock her potential. In fact, we have developed a special programme for dogs like Coco - we call this our STAR Dogs (Special Training and Activity Requirement) programme.

Generous donations from supporters like you allow us to continue helping animals that are the victims of the animal welfare crisis. Coco has had a tough journey, but she is now the happy, bouncy, young dog she should be and is looking for a family that will love her quirky character.

We knew that Coco needed time and special care, but we didn’t give up on her as we knew we could unlock her potential. In fact, we have developed a special programme for dogs like Coco - we call this our STAR Dogs (Special Training and Activity Requirement) programme.

Generous donations from supporters like you allow us to continue helping animals that are the victims of the animal welfare crisis. Coco has had a tough journey, but she is now the happy, bouncy, young dog she should be and is looking for a family that will love her quirky character.

Golden oldie Twinkle has health issues and needed surgery

Twinkle needed yet another operation to remove an overactive thyroid gland. He will now have a much better quality of light into his twilight years. He's on the road to recovery and will be ready to find a new home soon.

When Twinkle, a lovely 13-year-old male cat, came to us he was underweight, he was sneezing, and his coat was in poor condition. We realised that he had multiple health issues, including an overactive thyroid gland, infected teeth, poor kidney function and a respiratory infection!

A gift of £55 paid for the essential antibiotics and hyperthyroid medication Twinkle needed to help him recover.

Your donation will help more animals like Twinkle

His ears were irritating him, and sadly, after testing we found that he had cancerous changes along his ear flaps. Our vet operated to remove the cancerous area and sutured the skin. Normally the sutures would absorb away, but sadly for Twinkle they didn’t, instead, his ears became inflamed, so she had to operate and remove this section of his ears. Thankfully, Twinkle has now recovered and is looking for a loving retirement home.

We have about 450 animals at Raystede who need us just like Coco and Twinkle. Each day, including Christmas Day, we spend £120 on food as we believe each animal in our care deserves a nutritious diet to help them recover and thrive. But we can’t do this without your support, so please if you can send a gift today, no matter how big or small it will help.

His ears were irritating him, and sadly, after testing we found that he had cancerous changes along his ear flaps. Our vet operated to remove the cancerous area and sutured the skin. Normally the sutures would absorb away, but sadly for Twinkle they didn’t, instead, his ears became inflamed, so she had to operate and remove this section of his ears. Thankfully, Twinkle has now recovered and is looking for a loving retirement home.

We have about 450 animals at Raystede who need us just like Coco and Twinkle. Each day, including Christmas Day, we spend £120 on food as we believe each animal in our care deserves a nutritious diet to help them recover and thrive. But we can’t do this without your support, so please if you can send a gift today, no matter how big or small it will help.

Your donation will help animals find happiness this Christmas