Disabled animal rehabilitation centres are very rare, both in the UK and across the world. And this is the reason that Victoria Bryceson, Founder of animal welfare charity, Miracle’s Mission, has been looking for the perfect site to build the UK’s first centre for disabled animals, where she and her team can rehabilitate the most vulnerable, before finding them their forever homes. The charity has now found the ideal spot in Lincolnshire and Victoria is spearheading an important appeal to raise funds to pay for a sizeable deposit to secure their bid…
Victoria comments, “I wanted to bid on this piece of land in Lincolnshire a while ago but it was pulled out of the auction as the legal pack wasn’t ready. However the auction is back on, on 30th March to 1st April, so funds allowing, we’re in with a good chance.”
“The site is absolutely perfect. It has a bungalow, a derelict cottage that could be re-built in the future, a further large useable building, two sheds that need re-building and 7 acres of land. The fact that it has a bungalow built already on it means that we don’t need planning permission which is a huge bonus, as every other piece of land without buildings already on that we’ve applied for pre-planning permission has been rejected. And the amount of land is absolutely amazing – the dogs would be able to run free all day long.”
“We don’t know how much money we need to raise as it’s on for £275,000, but of course it’s an auction so it could shoot way above that as soon as it comes on. We’re just trying to raise as much as possible and the larger deposit we can get, the lower mortgage we would need to take out.”
Victoria explains why her project to build the UK’s first disabled rehabilitation centre is so important, “90% of disabled dogs that are seen by vets are euthanised unnecessarily so there must be literally thousands of dogs killed like this in the UK.” Many people may not be aware that dogs who have wheels and prosthetics can live as good a life as a fully able bodied dogs and many mistakenly think euthanasia is the only option, and Victoria aims to change this.
The new centre will provide dedicated care for the most vulnerable dogs and cats. Animals under its care will receive thorough veterinary assessments, MRIs, surgeries, the fitting of prosthetics and doggy wheels. Their personalised rehabilitation plan will include physiotherapy and hydrotherapy as well as daily massage and TENS machine stimulation. There will be a sensory garden and educational toys to provide adequate mental and physical stimulation for the animals, who will receive lots of love and support from their incredible, specially trained carers.
Victoria already has a waiting list of disabled dogs but cannot accept them until she is able to finance the centre and she is currently crowd funding to raise £20,000 to secure a deposit for the centre.
You can donate to Victoria’s appeal here https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/disabled-animal-centre—remaining-deposit-needed and get in touch if you would like to organise fundraising on their behalf, on info@miraclesmission.org.
