A dog rescue charity in south Wales saved 40 dogs in the middle of the night after they were surrendered unwanted by breeders. The huge group of dogs was made up of six newfoundland dogs, eight Labradors and lab crosses and 26 smaller breed dogs.
CEO of Many Tears Animal Rescue in Llanelli, Sylvia Van Atta, said the group of dogs came from breeders who either no longer wanted to breed the dogs, or couldn't sell them on. The rescue is now facing huge costs to care for the dogs, especially the larger breeds, due to the extra food and care that they require.
A video shared to their social media pages show the dogs being carried into the rescue at 2am on Saturday morning. The post said: "This morning at 2am while most of the country were sleeping, we were called in to welcome 40 new dogs, all hoping for a miracle. Amongst the new arrivals were 6 scared Newfoundlands, all in need of carrying."
Read more: A woman restored this beautiful Romany caravan in lockdown and is now selling it for charity
The rescue said that lots of the scared newfoundlands needed carrying as they couldn't walk. They described it as a "very challenging few hours."
The post continued: "It was raining and it presented quite the challenge, but the dedication of our staff and volunteers is unrivalled and they got every dog safe, warm and fed over the course of three hours. Every single one of the 40 dogs will now be health checked and photographed before going up for adoption on our website over the next couple of days. They will now be looking for their perfect forever homes and until then, will be loved and cared for by our dedicated staff."
This is the most newfoundlands the charity has ever cared for at any given time, which poses a big challenge for the centre due to the care they require. Sylvia said: "They are big to find homes for. They need masses of work, they are matted, they need socialisation. These dogs are around 60-70kg, they eat so much, they are very very costly."
She explained that more and more breeders are starting to surrender dogs to the charity, claiming that breeders are starting to see that there is no market for it anymore. She said: "They call me because they all know about me, [breeders]. I am not going to scream and shout at them, I can try and educate them, but I just want to help the dogs."
Owner Sylvia Van Atta set the rescue up as a no kill animal rescue centre in 2004 and primarily focuses on taking in ex breeding and “death row” dogs in the pounds. To make a donation to support the centre, click here
Read next:
- Greyhound racing takes step closer to being banned in Wales
- Paul O'Grady's funeral will be held at animal park, say reports
- Paul O Grady’s heartbreaking goodbye with rescue dog before his death and other lovely Love of Dogs moments
- Paul O'Grady For The Love Of Dogs: Viewers in 'floods of tears' over 'heart breaking' posthumous series premiere
- Woman in hospital for four days after being attacked by stray cat
