Of course, we love the animals within our care and could keep every single on of them forever. By rehoming, we can help even more animals who need us.
Sometimes, we have animals arrive in our care that - sometimes unexpectedly - turn out to be so unwell that they cannot be rehomed. This not only puts a huge strain on our finances, but on our facilities and resources available too. Offering an animal sanctuary status means that spot that was originally used to take in more animals is now occupied for days, weeks, months, sometimes years. It means that £100 a month we set aside for general upkeep of the rescue is now reserved to treating the unwell animal.
These scenarios are unavoidable. We love to help the most vulnerable animals. We're more than happy to offer sanctuary to an animal if we know it's within their best interest.
As a fundraising opportunity, we've decided that you, the public, can be given the opportunity to sponsor those animals who, sadly, will never leave our facilities.
First things first, let's meet the animals we're referring to:
Sometimes, we have animals arrive in our care that - sometimes unexpectedly - turn out to be so unwell that they cannot be rehomed. This not only puts a huge strain on our finances, but on our facilities and resources available too. Offering an animal sanctuary status means that spot that was originally used to take in more animals is now occupied for days, weeks, months, sometimes years. It means that £100 a month we set aside for general upkeep of the rescue is now reserved to treating the unwell animal.
These scenarios are unavoidable. We love to help the most vulnerable animals. We're more than happy to offer sanctuary to an animal if we know it's within their best interest.
As a fundraising opportunity, we've decided that you, the public, can be given the opportunity to sponsor those animals who, sadly, will never leave our facilities.
First things first, let's meet the animals we're referring to:
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Meet Marilyn,
Sponsored
Marilyn arrived in our care as part of a transfer from another rescue. Upon arrival, she was walking round with her eyes shut, once we opened her eyes, we could see why! One eye had totally ruptured, and the other was so scarred and ulcerated that it would've been excruciatingly painful. At the vets, they determined that Marilyn was already blind, so her eyes were simply a source of pain. We decided to go ahead with bilateral eye enucleation surgery - which is a fancy way of saying we were removing both eyes.
When Marilyn came round, you could see the absolute relief to be rid of the immense pain; the post op pain would've been substantially less than the pain of living with those eyes. Marilyn doesn't let blindless hold her back, but she's a typical naked rat that's prone to a few issues.
Sponsored
Marilyn arrived in our care as part of a transfer from another rescue. Upon arrival, she was walking round with her eyes shut, once we opened her eyes, we could see why! One eye had totally ruptured, and the other was so scarred and ulcerated that it would've been excruciatingly painful. At the vets, they determined that Marilyn was already blind, so her eyes were simply a source of pain. We decided to go ahead with bilateral eye enucleation surgery - which is a fancy way of saying we were removing both eyes.
When Marilyn came round, you could see the absolute relief to be rid of the immense pain; the post op pain would've been substantially less than the pain of living with those eyes. Marilyn doesn't let blindless hold her back, but she's a typical naked rat that's prone to a few issues.
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Meet Moss,
Sponsored Moss was surrendered to us as a stray back in 2022. He was. sadly, never claimed. He required immediate treatment for Cheyletiellosis, and was soon booked in to be vaccinated and neutered. Moss was fully rehabilitated and ready to be rehomed, when one day he started sneezing due to blocked nasolacrimal ducts. After a vet examination, they noted he had some swelling on his jaw, and they decided that they wanted to take radiographs, and flush his ducts so they were clear. Sadly, x-rays highlighted that Moss had tooth-root elongation. It's an incurable dental disease which meant Moss would require ongoing medical management. We were advised to keep him as a sanctuary resident. Moss is truly settled into sanctuary life and absolutely loves life! He's known as the scruffy one, as he constantly seems to have some hay stuck in his long hair! |
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Meet Tarquin,
Sponsored Tarquin the striped skunk arrived in our care due to his owner being unable to keep him. A big reason why we wanted to help Tarquin was due to the severe levels of aggression his owner had reported. As soon as he established his territory his aggressive behaviour peaked and he was acting exactly as his owner had mentioned. We started with surgical castration which appears to have helped quite a bit, this combined with a new peaceful outdoor enclosure has started to help with building his confidence. Skunks are no easy undertaking at the best of times, never mind adding his temperamental behaviour into the mix. Taquin will stay with us as a resident and is an ambassador as to why "domesticating" skunks is something we wholeheartedly disagree with. Keeping wild animals wild is something we are very passionate about, but of course, we always want to help those who find themselves trapped in the pet trade. |
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Meet Buddy,
Unsponsored
Buddy is one of the most complex rats we've ever had in our care. He was originally a stray who had clearly been mauled by an animal. There were numerous bite wounds, a necrotic tail, he was underweight, and in shock. He later developed osteomyelitis in both back feet as a result of fractures. He was put on intense medicinal therapy to manage his pain and treat the infection, he had x-rays every couple of months to ensure we were heading in the right direction, as it was an ethical debate if it was even humane to persevere with treatment. Buddy was a fighter, so we fought for him.
Weeks and months went by and Buddy continued to flourish whilst on medication. Another issue popped up; he was incredibly hormonally aggressive towards other rats. Fortunately, the recent x-rays were incredibly reassuring and he was considered stable enough to be castrated.
Buddy now lives in a large mischief of male rats and is totally thriving. You can keep up with his progress with our other sanctuary males at Misfits Mischeif Mansion.
Unsponsored
Buddy is one of the most complex rats we've ever had in our care. He was originally a stray who had clearly been mauled by an animal. There were numerous bite wounds, a necrotic tail, he was underweight, and in shock. He later developed osteomyelitis in both back feet as a result of fractures. He was put on intense medicinal therapy to manage his pain and treat the infection, he had x-rays every couple of months to ensure we were heading in the right direction, as it was an ethical debate if it was even humane to persevere with treatment. Buddy was a fighter, so we fought for him.
Weeks and months went by and Buddy continued to flourish whilst on medication. Another issue popped up; he was incredibly hormonally aggressive towards other rats. Fortunately, the recent x-rays were incredibly reassuring and he was considered stable enough to be castrated.
Buddy now lives in a large mischief of male rats and is totally thriving. You can keep up with his progress with our other sanctuary males at Misfits Mischeif Mansion.
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Meet Alice,
Sponsored
Alice arrived into our care with her Mum (Hazel) and her sister (Mabel). We agreed to offer the girls sanctuary space here as Alice is a lethal white guinea pig. For those who are unaware about what a lethal white guinea pig is; it's a recessive gene that has a 1 in 4 chance of occurring when breeding roans and dalmatians. Lethal whites suffer with a wealth of health issues; they will never thrive and typically don't live as long as other guinea pigs.. They have specific characteristics including:
Sponsored
Alice arrived into our care with her Mum (Hazel) and her sister (Mabel). We agreed to offer the girls sanctuary space here as Alice is a lethal white guinea pig. For those who are unaware about what a lethal white guinea pig is; it's a recessive gene that has a 1 in 4 chance of occurring when breeding roans and dalmatians. Lethal whites suffer with a wealth of health issues; they will never thrive and typically don't live as long as other guinea pigs.. They have specific characteristics including:
- They always have white fur and red eyes
- Micropthalmia is common
- They're usually blind and deaf
- Dental disease is ubiquitous; incisor maloclussion or no incisors altogether, molar spurring etc
- Neurological issues
- Poor immunity
- They're usually much smaller than siblings
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Other deformities
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Meet Hunter,
Sponsored Hunter is a ferret/EU polecat hybrid who arrived in our are due to his aggressive nature. EU Polecats are typically solitary and are known for their stubborn behaviour - making them challenging to tame. Hunter can and will give a nasty bite to even our experienced workers, meaning protective gear must be worn to prevent injury. Hybridising the two species is not something we agree with as in many cases they do not make desirable or easy pets, and are extremely challenging to find homes for - most polecat sanctuaries won't work with hybrids due to conservation efforts. Here with us, Hunter's bond with our workers is a relationship of respect (respecting his boundaries and limitations, whilst providing him with the love and care he requires). Despite his quirks, we love him for who he is. |
Why Sponsor an Animal?
Some of our permanent residents with chronic health issues are expensive and time consuming, to say the least. Your sponsorship donations can help us continue to fund the high-quality care we expect all our residents to have - permanent or temporary.
Your contributions can quite easily save a life.
We are a non-profit rescue. All funds raised will go straight back into caring for our sanctuary residents.
Your contributions can quite easily save a life.
We are a non-profit rescue. All funds raised will go straight back into caring for our sanctuary residents.
How Sponsoring Works:
We will be dividing sponsoring into 4 tiers:
- Tier one (£2 a month): to sponsor an animal for £2 a month you will receive a welcome certificate of thanks and 2 Bacchus Resident Rescue stickers,
- Tier two (£5 a month): to sponsor an animal for £5 a month, you will receive a welcome certificate of thanks, 2 Bacchus Resident Rescue stickers, and a Bacchus Residents Rescue mug.
- Tier three (£10 a month): to sponsor an animal for £10 a month you will receive a welcome certificate of thanks, 3 Bacchus Resident Rescue stickers, 2 Bacchus Residents Rescue mugs, and an optional social media shout out.
- Tier four (£20 a month): to sponsor an animal for £20 a month you will receive a welcome certificate of thanks, 3 Bacchus Resident Rescue stickers, 2 Bacchus Resident Rescue mugs, an optional social media shout out, and a card from your sponsored animal.
Terms and Conditions
- You will be expected to set up a monthly direct debit for sponsorship payments. These can be paused or terminated immediately, but we do kindly ask you inform us first.
- Each individual animal can be sponsored by more than one person. We will label these animals as co-sponsored.
- You will only receive your welcome gifts once your first payment has been made.
- We guarantee 100% of your payments will go towards costs of animal care.
- You can decline specific welcome items if you do not wish to receive them.
- You cannot ask for welcome items above your payment tier.
- Your sponsorship will no longer go ahead once the animal you're sponsoring is deceased. We will contact you with the details you've provided to inform you that your sponsored animal is deceased, and sponsorship payments for the animal you've sponsored will no longer be required. You do have the option to sponsor another animal instead.