Great Dane charity can continue following donations
A CARMARTHEN-BASED charity that rehomes Great Dane dogs across the UK has been overwhelmed with donations to help keep it in business.
Last month bosses feared they would be forced to close its doors within weeks due to a severe lack of income.
Great Dane Care, based between Llangunnor and Capel Dewi, has continued to take in dogs and rehome them since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but 17 months on found its financial situation dire.
Great Dane Care was set up by Liz and Gordon Davies 23 years ago, but was facing the very real prospect of closing after months in the grip of the pandemic.
However all that has changed since the public and other businesses rallied to their support after the home’s public plea for help.
A crowdfunding effort was launched to raise £8,000 to help keep the charity going, but that target has been smashed and now sits at more than £11,000.
In August, kennel manager Laura Higgins said the pandemic’s impact had been sobering for the small team at Great Dane Care, as its funding streams dried up during the lockdowns.
With dog shows cancelled across the UK there was little opportunity to fundraise and one of the rescue centre’s main incomes came from Coleg Sir Gâr.
The link with the college meant young animal care students at the Pibwrlwyd Campus could come to the rescue and get hands-on experience with largebreed dogs – however, that ended during the pandemic.
Now though Laura said the rescue is in a much better position and it’s “business as usual.” She added: “We had so many donations after we went public with our struggles and it means we can keep going and keep caring for these dogs. People have even signed up to make monthly donations to us and a very generous Carmarthen businessman gave us £1,000, the support has been incredible.”
Looking ahead, Laura hopes regular dog shows will begin to appear in the calendar again and the rescue can be at them to fundraise and spread the word about the work it does.
She said: “We have Brechfa Dog Show coming up on September 25 so we will be at that and then hopefully going into next year more events will start happening which will help with our ongoing fundraising.”
Speaking about the work the charity does, Laura said: “A lot of Great Danes that join us unfortunately haven’t had a good start to their lives, whether that be through neglect, abuse or mistreatment.
“So we have a dog behaviourist and very knowledgeable people on hand to rehabilitate these dogs to better their lives to live long and happy for the rest of their days.
“They come to us from all over Wales and the UK and we rehome them all over Britain too.
“In essence we do all we can for this beloved breed but we can only carry on with the help from our supporters as we are not funded in any way and rely solely on donations. Any donation people can make truly make a difference.”
The crowdfunding remains open and the website can be found at https:// www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-our-charity-1