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For years I have campaigned against puppy farming, dealers and pet shops, in fact any outlet that is involved in the breeding and selling of puppies by third parties. Why you may ask? Because it is a clandestine trade that lacks public awareness and Governments fail miserably to accept that puppy farming resulting in puppy trafficking is detrimental to animal welfare. Through my thoughts on my blog I will highlight some of the daily happenings from my perspective as a campaigner against the puppy trade.







Disclaimer: My name is Patricia from Puppy Alert, the opinions and views expressed on this blog are entirely my own.



Tuesday 7 May 2013

Animal Heaven Animal Rescue - Irsh Republic

In the UK many may not be familiar with the name Animal Heaven Animal Rescue which is a rescue operating from Southern Ireland. Although if you are into rescue in the UK then some of the names of the rescues who are recipients of their dogs from Irish pounds maybe known to you such as Allsorts Dog Rescue, Rushton Dog Rescue, Stockenchurch Dog Rescue, Puppies Needing Homes, Second Chance Poundies, Small Paws, to name but a few.  AHAR as it is known does not have any status such as charity, business or an CHY number or listed on the Revenue Commissioners web site in Ireland who are responsible for granting charitable tax exemption in the Irish Republic. Yet AHAR are promoting the raising of 100,000 Euros which is a deposit on an equestrian centre which failed to sell at auction last year. To date they have put down a deposit of 20,000 Euros and raised 40,000 Euros.  They say the 100,000 Euros deposit will secure them a mortgage on the property, yet they will not reply to any questions asked as to how they are going to achieve this, in fact they delete any sensible comments on their Facebook page when the question is raised, only leaving comments by those where praise is given to AHAR. 
 
Any rescue that is asking for 100 Euros for a person to become a patron to their rescue to raise the 100,000 Euros deposit should know not only what their contribution is ultimately going to be used for but the proof that the 'dream' is likely to materialise. As yet there is no proof at all, in recent days photos have been posted on their site of the proposed equestrian centre in their anticipation of raising the deposit. This is only the beginning raising a deposit may not be out of reach for AHAR however the public in general and even more so the patrons of AHAR should also be entitled to know how AHAR is going to secure a mortgage on the proposed equestrian centre. The founder of AHAR is not in paid employment, only the running of her own rescue, so where is the security going to be found to enable a bank, firstly to loan the money which is hundreds of thousands of Euros and then to ensure that the monthly payments do not run in arrears? 
 
Is this 'dream' for real? Without a rescue having any status and therefore someone looking over their shoulder or even themselves willing to answer queries makes the whole situation rather dubious and lacking in transparency. My own personal thoughts are that there are far too many gullible people who are prepared to listen to and read a lot of sloppy words from the founder and are carried away by her 'dream' rather than question and insist on answers from the founder before parting with their hard earned cash.

3 comments:

  1. Goes without saying that rescuing/rehoming animals is inherently good - but the manner in which it's done is all important. Having been involved with animal welfare/rescues all my adult life in the Southern Hemisphere & in recent years Ireland - I too am concerned & baffled by many aspects of this fund raising push. My worries are:

    (1) Suzanne the founder/public face of AHAR works full time with the rescue - if she's to be the singnatory to the mortgage then that in itself makes little sense. If she's living on the dole it's unlikely she'd be given a loan of 300,000 which would entail monthly repayments of several thousand - if she's not to be singatory then who is?

    If she lives entirely on gifts for every single life expense - a situation of the most extreme rarity in this day & age - then once again - no bank would be lending her that amount.

    Therefore I assume some other person/people - will be the official signatories of mortgage documents.

    I'm also assuming from Tom's language that the property will take on aspects of a business (horse related/boarding or whatever) as there's no money to be made in 100% charity rehoming & 300,000 is a huge amount.

    I also assume that the AHAR committee are friends/acquaintances with the sellers & that possibly some flexible arrangement is being hammered out.

    It's not that there's an elephant in the room - more like a whole zoo - how does a hand to mouth charity run by a lady with no discernible income have a property owner wait months while they do public appeals & then assure us that the bank is very pleased.

    Conclusion: I'm very well on in years & quite immune to flowery sugary language - but I've no wish at all to be a party pooper in regard to AHAR's dreams. Language is a powerful motivating tool - history teaches us that - so fair play to them for using it as they do.

    What I am is a thinking person with a couple of the most fundamentally glaringly obvious questions anyone with finance/life/animal welfare experince would have.

    Even if they had a band of volunteers who worked day & night to keep the animals/place in gleaming perfect condition - that in itself would be an irrelevant issue when it comes to how such an enormous loan will be paid back.

    All the manpower hours in the world washing/caring for animals/buildings whatever does not a loan repayment make.













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  2. Have been reading what feels like ENDLESS drama on AHARs page for weeks now and I have to say I feel conflicted about this charity . Saw photos of a pound dog they " rescued " which had a mammary gland tumour , bad eyes , a mouth abscess and needed almost all of her teeth removed and sad as her state was I found myself thinking she will go through hard surgery aged 10 and for what ? Sometimes euthanasia is a kindness. Gar the donkey was also " saved " though no money to fund his surgery was there and he had to wait days for it to be raised ? On AHAR posts say he was in pain , well if he was then he needed to be treated didnt he ? Instead he had to wait . this does not seem right if he was in pain. Only last week AHAR had a lorry of hay arrive that the group openely say they could not pay for . This hand to mouth style of rescuing must carry risks , what would happen if that money had not been raised when the next hay delivery was needed? Another post on AHARS facebook that concerned me was a dog aggressive staff that AHARS own vet said needed a special home yet there was AHAR today saying only weeks later that same dog can now be homed to any home > Is the dog a risk or is it now . Life is not a disney movie with love solving all , a dog who is dog aggressive placed in the wrong home can be a huge risk.
    I see posts saying negative comments are removed and if so I would say that every charity needs to be open about its dealings including daling in polite and appropiate ways with complaints and concerns . Compare with the Dogs Trust page to see how complaints can be dealt with in ways that dont require emotional meltdowns and insults flying

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