Desperate plea from Caithness animal charity
A far north animal rescue charity is appealing for help after receiving an influx of dogs in need of care.
KWK9 Rescue says a shortage of people willing to foster dogs is forcing it to turn away animals in need of care and placing the future of the group in jeopardy.
A spokesperson said: “The closure of the SSPCA centre has had a huge impact on KWK9 Rescue and our resources.
“KWK9 Rescue is a voluntary-led organisation by a small number of dedicated individuals, some of whom work full time. We do not have any paid members and do all fundraising, paperwork, adoption enquiries, home checks.
“Recently due to a lack of foster homes we sadly have to often turn down many dogs that have been requested to be rehomed.
“The reality is that without foster homes KWK9 is unable to continue as a rehoming charity, so KWK9 Rescue now needs your help more than ever.”
They added: “We are extremely grateful for every foster home we have had over the years and the small few we still have, but unless we manage to secure more foster homes we are not sure how KWK9 Rescue can continue.
Subscribe to receive regular free email newsletters
“Without foster homes for the dogs we cannot rehome them. We have previously rehomed directly from the dog’s previous home but we feel this is not a sustainable way of rehoming as, sadly, not every person is honest about their dog’s traits/needs and can cause issues in their new home - and then put the burden back to KWK9 to try and resolve.
“KWK9 Rescue are at crisis point and if the local community wants to secure the future of the only rehoming facility north of Munlochy Animal Aid we really need them to help pull out the stops to continue.”
The group is ideally looking for foster homes without young children or other pets, adding: “If you have existing pets you need to be confident about how to introduce new dogs into the home and have enough space to allow the dogs to be separate if need be.”
The charity looks to help dogs of all backgrounds from those who have not been cared for properly by previous owners to those who have been much-loved pets but whose owners have sadly passed away, or who have failed as working dogs but make perfect family pets.
For more information or to volunteer see here or KWK9 Rescue on Facebook.
