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 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 Alice,
Sponsored
Alice arrived into our care with her Mum (Hazel) and her sister (Mabel) in 2022. 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) in 2022. 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 our sanctuary rats,
Unsponsored
By far, the animal I think we're probably best known for are rats, we meet hundreds every single year. Granted, most of them are adopted out to amazing forever homes, but when you meet over 100 rats every year, you're guaranteed to meet some who can't be adopted. We usually have 1-2 rolling sanctuary groups containing between 5-18 rats at any given time. As already mentioned, these will usually be sickly, old, or have severe behavioural issues - maybe even all of the above. We provide them with the care they need throughout their lives.
Rats are one of our favourite species to work with, but they're undeniably costly and high maintenance, especially when they're sanctuary. Rats are one of the animals that cost us the most at the vets, maybe because they're the most numerous animal we deal with, maybe because they have incredibly short lives (2 years, if you're lucky. Rarely more), and if they've come from a terrible start, they can soon cost a fortune - especially if you times that by 20 rats!
People often assume we get a big veterinary discount - we don't! Rats are classed as exotic animals and require an exotic specialist vet. Thankfully, Congleton Vets go above and beyond for our residents. It's very rare they don't meet every single sanctuary rat we have in at some point. By sponsoring the sanctuary rats, you're allowing us to keep helping these often forgotten about animals. They're just as deserving.
Unsponsored
By far, the animal I think we're probably best known for are rats, we meet hundreds every single year. Granted, most of them are adopted out to amazing forever homes, but when you meet over 100 rats every year, you're guaranteed to meet some who can't be adopted. We usually have 1-2 rolling sanctuary groups containing between 5-18 rats at any given time. As already mentioned, these will usually be sickly, old, or have severe behavioural issues - maybe even all of the above. We provide them with the care they need throughout their lives.
Rats are one of our favourite species to work with, but they're undeniably costly and high maintenance, especially when they're sanctuary. Rats are one of the animals that cost us the most at the vets, maybe because they're the most numerous animal we deal with, maybe because they have incredibly short lives (2 years, if you're lucky. Rarely more), and if they've come from a terrible start, they can soon cost a fortune - especially if you times that by 20 rats!
People often assume we get a big veterinary discount - we don't! Rats are classed as exotic animals and require an exotic specialist vet. Thankfully, Congleton Vets go above and beyond for our residents. It's very rare they don't meet every single sanctuary rat we have in at some point. By sponsoring the sanctuary rats, you're allowing us to keep helping these often forgotten about animals. They're just as deserving.
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Meet Punk,
Unsponsored Punk arrived after his devoted owner could no longer care for him due to very sad unforeseeable circumstances. It was within his best interests to be rehomed, but there's limited rescue spaces for skunks, and even less that give them the life they deserve. Believe it or not, there are people who believe skunks make great exotic pets, but we completely disagree. There are very few households who can offer a skunk everything they need to thrive, not just survive. Punk is a very sweet, but timid soul. He's very laid back and reminds me very much of our first ever skunk, Jett. It takes Punk a long long time to adapt and warm up to new experiences. He's very particular and knows what he likes and what he doesn't. Since arriving, he's now settled in to his routine and actually started doing skunk things like digging. He's exploring new foods which is great, as he now has a much more varied diet. He's been neutered and microchipped and really seems to have made this place his own. |
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Meet Marcel
Unsponsored Marcel arrived in our care with 4 other rabbits, Gert, Fritz, Bruno and Javed. These rabbits were saved from the T&S rabbit meat farm that was thankfully closed down due to the incredible efforts of animal activists, and the campaign "Shut Down T&S Rabbits". All of the rabbits were subjected to horrific living conditions and were exposed to numerous diseases. Bruno and his companions were very sick. They showed symptoms such as nasal discharge, sneezing, coughing, had a generally unkept appearance and diarrhoea. Nasal swaps, bloods and fecal samples were sent to the labs and the results were quite frankly, horrific. They were battling hepatic coccidiosis, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Moxarella, and Burkholderia cepacia. Management for these diseases is costly and intense. After many months, we are able to say that Marcel is happy and mostly asymptomatic, but without strict biosecurity and prophylactic measures, their condition could worsen. Sadly, we lost Gert, Fritz and Javed to these awful dieases - we were too little too late. Bruno only recently passed away after battling these diseases for many years. By sponsoring Marcel you're able to help us continue to give him the best life possible in our care, and helps him finally enjoy his freedom. |
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Meet Inky,
Sponsored Inky arrived into our care as a lone gerbil who'd lost his companion. After an assessment period, we concluded that Inky wasn't tolerant of people, but he was healthy. We attempted to bond him to another male gerbil who was incredibly placid via the split cage method. To be blunt, it ended in disaster due to Inky being incredibly aggressive and unpredictable. Based off what we observed, we decided to have Inky neutered as this also opened up the opportunity for female companionship, and may even help with his behaviour. Boy, were we wrong. During his time here, he's developed a reputation for being a ball of rage who wakes up every single morning and chooses violence. He hates people, he hates gerbils, and he probably hates you too. We've genuinely met wild animals who are more welcoming than Inky. In all seriousness, we did not come to the decision lightly that Inky should be housed alone, but we simply couldn't subject another gerbil to harm attempting to bond him. We've also decided that Inky would be safest and happiest staying here with some of our extremely savvy volunteers who can help Inky live out the best life possible - plasters on standby! |
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Meet Hendrix
Unsponsored Hendrix landed at our rescue alongside 6 other giant rabbits that were removed from a property. We worked out way through neutering and vaccinating all of them to get them ready for adoption. Hendrix's plans for rehabbing were halted when he was having chronic ear disease, and was also diagnosed with bordetella bronchiseptica. Unfortunately, he still battles with respiratory symptoms. He's now part of a larger herd with fellow bordetella rabbits. When his symptoms flare, he also seems particularly susceptible to ear mites, likely due to being immunocompromised - he's no stranger to injections! Hendrix is now 3 years old, which may sound young, however, Hendrix is a continental giant rabbit, largely considered an "extreme breed" due to the common health problems associated with them. We've had many many giant breeds, including multiple continental giants, and their lifespan is much shorter than that of other rabbits; we'd consider 4-5 years to be a fantastic age, but many die younger due to the common health issues. Common issues include:
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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.
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.
- We guarantee 100% of your payments will go towards costs of animal care.
- 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.