Donegal charity Animals In Need's fundraising appeal has passed the halfway point on the road to achieving their goal of a new animal rescue van, with over €12,500 raised in just three weeks.
A delighted AIN spokesperson said ‘We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s donated towards the van so far – every time you see the van driving around filled with rescued dogs you can say ‘I bought that van!’
The registered charity, who face closure unless a new van can be purchased, launched their appeal to raise €25,000 for the van which will have to be registered with the Department of Agriculture for authorisation to transport live animals and be customised with travel cages, air-conditioning and lighting. Click here to visit the GoFundMe appeal.
An AIN Spokesperson said ‘Without a van it will be impossible to continue our rescue work and we will have no alternative but to cease as a Rescue, which is something nobody wants to happen.’
Animals In Need’s current van is on its last legs with over 200,000 miles on the clock.
It is constantly on the road rescuing dogs from all around the county and beyond, collecting dogs from the Letterkenny Pound, delivering dogs to various sanctuaries such as the Dogs Trust in Dublin and the Dogs Trust Hub in Leitrim plus collecting unwanted dogs and pups from their owners.
AIN said ‘This will be a van bought by the kind people of Donegal for the vulnerable animals of Donegal, so thank you from us and from the thousands of animals we can then save in the future’.
Sally and her pups
And this is no exaggeration. In the past year alone, AIN has rescued almost 1,000 animals, up from 720 animals during the previous year.
AIN has saved 137 dogs and pups from the Letterkenny Pound since the beginning of 2017. They have also taken in 130 dogs and pups surrendered by their owners.
AIN is the only Rescue in Donegal who saves dogs from the Letterkenny Pound. A volunteer drives to the Pound every Saturday to rescue unwanted dogs and sometimes twice a week if young pups are left there. They are also the only registered charity in the county that rescues both cats and dogs.
Their spokesperson said ‘When we formed 11 years ago, over a thousand dogs were put down in the Pound annually as there was nowhere for them to go. If we don’t take them, who will? With the public’s continued help and support we can make sure that doesn’t happen.’
If you would like to contribute towards the van, AIN has set up a Go Fund Me campaign and donations can be made at www.gofundme.com/save-animals-in-need-from-closure.
AIN also helps people in need; the elderly, the bereaved, those with special needs, single parents, prisoners, victims of domestic violence, those who have lost their homes or had to emigrate in search of work and couldn’t bring their animals with them.
Animals in Need C.L.G have been in operation since 2006 as a totally voluntary registered organisation C.H.Y No 17864/20067304 rescuing abandoned dogs and cats in County Donegal and beyond.
