Based in our home town of Margate, TAG Pet Rescue provide re-homing services for abandoned, neglected or unwanted pets. On their website they say "At TAG, our mission is to care for and re-home as many animals as we can. We don’t receive government funding so we rely on donations, income from our shops and the tireless work of volunteers to keep the centre going; it’s a true labour of love!" TAG started in 1988, after an influx of abandoned animals were flooding the local rescue centres who were unable to cope with the sheer numbers of pets needing help. A small group of local animal lovers and animal rights campaigners got together and decided to start a group called TAG (Thanet Animal Group) - which Founders and Trustees, Debbie Channing and Chris Kiddell are still actively involved in today. The group set out to build a community of loving people who would be willing to help, and soon foster homes started popping up all across Thanet! In 2002, TAG became Thanet's very first animal rescue centre when they built their current rescue centre on the site at Lydden Farm. TAG don't receive any government funding, so all the help they get comes from donations. To donate to TAG and help fund their incredible rescue work, you can visit their website here.
The Cinnamon Trust is and incredible charity providing help for elderly people, the terminally ill and their pets. For many elderly people living on their own, their pets are a hugely positive force in their lives that they just could not be without. The Cinnamon Trust is the only specialist national charity which aims to relieve the anxieties, problems, and sometimes injustices, faced by elderly and terminally ill people and their pets, helping to prevent human sadness and animal suffering. The Trust was founded in 1985 by Mrs Averil Jarvis whose love for her own dog, Cinnamon, led to her creating the Trust. To preserve the treasured relationship between owners and their pets, the Trust works with a national network of over 17,000 community service volunteers who provide practical help in the day to day care of a pet that may pose a problem to the owner - for example, walking the dog for a housebound owner. They also run a national fostering service for pets whose owners are in hospital, providing a loving, temporary home until the owner and pet can be reunited. We think it is vital that pets are kept with their loving owners no matter what, and The Cinnamon Trust provides the perfect solution by offering practical help to those who need it. If you would like to support the work of The Cinnamon Trust, you can donate here, or you can sign up to become a volunteer here.
Folly is another Kent based animal charity, based in the Broadwater Forest near Tunbridge Wells. Folly Wildlife Rescue Trust is a charity dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of injured, orphaned and distressed wild animals and birds throughout West Kent, East Sussex and the surrounding region.
The Trust says "Every year, thousands of wildlife casualties are treated after being injured in accidents involving some form of human activity, such as entanglement in plastic netting, fencing or fishing line, road traffic accidents, injury caused by garden machinery, poisoning, shooting and attack by domestic cats and dogs, to name just a few. In some species, such as the hedgehog, these accidents are exacting a heavy toll, which combined with loss of habitat and increasing urbanisation, are bringing them ever closer to extinction."
They specialise in hand-rearing orphaned animals, as well as working tirelessly to provide wildlife education to schools, community groups and clubs. They work to dispel myths surrounding wildlife that provide a harmful outlook on certain animals, e.g all badgers carry TB, foxes are violent animals, magpies are killing our songbirds - all of which are untrue. Folly Wildlife Rescue receives no funding from any local authority or lottery grant and relies entirely on public donations, grants, legacies and fund-raising activities. To donate, volunteer or learn more about what you can do to help protect wildlife, click here.
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There are so many wonderful animal charities out there working tirelessly to care for sick, injured, abandoned or abused pets and wildlife. We think each and every one of them is deserving of support, and we hope that this Christmas we have encouraged you to go out there and show your support to them either through donating, volunteering, or simply sharing the work that they do.
Header image by Beverly Lussier from Pixabay