Albus arrived at Hillcrest in very poor health, requiring significant rehabilitation and care.
The festive period has been a particularly challenging time for us across the whole of GRW, with costs going up and people struggling financially, we knew this was going to be a difficult time in comparison to previous years, but it’s fair to say we didn’t see this coming.
Starting with two new arrivals, Albus and Abbie, who have come to us through the wonderful people at South Wales Police. As you can see, Albus and Abbie have arrived in terrible condition that will require ongoing care to get them back to full strength. After being seized, along with 15 other dogs, they spent a week in the vets being treated for their various health problems caused by the obvious neglect they’ve suffered. The photos we have shared were taken a week after being under veterinary care. They’re now spending lots of time in the Hillcrest house with pyjamas, warm beds and gentle cuddles which is making these kind natured hounds feel better already, and the other 15 dogs have been safely taken in by other rescues. Meanwhile, the police are embarking on a prosecution.
Our Blackwood shop was sadly broken into just before Christmas
Our wonderful team at Greyhound Rescue Wales, Blackwood Shop have also been subjected to difficulty over Christmas with a break in. Sadly, once again, our retail team have had to deal with one of our shops being ransacked and raided, costing not just an excessive amount of money, but also valuable staff and volunteer time as they worked hard to clean up the mess that was left behind. The staff put their hearts and souls in to their charity shops. They spend time preparing window displays, organising and planning to represent the charity to the highest standard. With the country under an enormous amount of pressure, it’s not unusual for our retail staff to be subjected to anger and frustration, and the work they do, that is so vital to the running costs of the charity, deserves much recognition and admiration. It’s easy to think that the charity only needs to pay for veterinary bills and food, but in reality, it costs almost half a million pounds a year to run this organisation. Without the hard work and dedication of our retail staff, we wouldn’t be able to rescue dogs on the scale that we currently do.
Not only are we facing January vet bills for Abbie and Albus – not to mention other hounds that are coming in to our care – but we also now face the cost of replacing the window and adding additional security to another charity shop, during times of financial crisis, when we already have record numbers of dogs on our waiting lists.
If you are able to support us at all by donating to help us raise money for the Blackwood shop window and for Albus and Abbie, you can do so here: