The National Foundation for Retired Service Animals
Police dogs receive a one off payment from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner when they retire, but as you can imagine this does not last long. This is where The National Foundation for Retired Service Animals step in. They are a registered charity (1200949) supporting retired dogs and horses from the police, fire, prison and border force services by helping with medical and veterinary bills, which inevitably occur as they get older.
When serving police/fire/prison/border force dogs and horses careers end, the financial support they have enjoyed whilst working, including food, kennels or stables, medical and veterinary requirements, training and equipment also comes to an end.
Unfortunately, meaningful insurance is almost impossible to obtain due to their age and training, and even if available, the premiums insurance companies charge for retired animals is incredibly high. This is obviously a serious worry for handlers who have their own financial obligations, and medical bills can be a real challenge.
As is widely acknowledged, the relationship between a handler and their working partner is second to none, and it is unthinkable that the pair may be broken up due to financial pressure. Unfortunately, this does often happen, and it causes great distress for the handlers, their families, and of course the animals themselves.
So, the NFRSA is there to help to ensure these wonderful animals can stay where they belong, with the families they love, as the years advance. It’s the least they deserve when they’ve devoted most of their lives to keeping us, the public, safe.
Our job, quite simply, is to ‘Protect Our Protectors’.
Animals in Distress
When pets in Devon lose their home (or are rescued from an inadequate one), the lucky ones end up with Animals in Distress. Animals in Distress run a Rescue Centre in which dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs are cared for prior to being rehomed.
Animals in Distress live by a six point Mission Statement where they commit to:
- Caring for and nurturing any unwanted pet brought to them (providing there is room for them in the Rescue Centre and they are suitable for rehoming).
- Providing shelter, food, exercise and veterinary care.
- Not putting an animal to sleep without veterinary advice.
- Checking homes for suitability.
- Examining the condition of pets prior to rehoming (via their contracted veterinary surgeon).
- Treating their user groups with respect, understanding and courtesy while demonstrating an inherent sense of duty and helpfulness.
Animals in Distress also run a number of shops in the Devon area.
AnimalsAsia
Woofstock will be once again helping AnimalsAsia to raise awareness of the plight of moon bears which are cruelly caged in farms in China and Vietnam in order to supply bile for use in traditional medicine.
On top of the trauma of being caged and subjected to invasive bile extraction procedures, many moon bears are dehydrated and malnourished with old or unproductive bears sometimes left to starve to death.
AnimalsAsia rescue and rehabilitate moon bears while working to reduce demand for their bile.
The charity are also involved in visiting and documenting the cruel and often illegal trade in cats and dogs for human consumption.
They also created the innovative Dr Dog animal-assisted therapy programme as one of many ways to change the relationship between humans and dogs in the region. By demonstrating that dogs feel pain and experience emotions like us, more people will stand up and protect them.
