When Bruno, a Shar Pei dog, arrived at the Cardiff Dogs Home in 2009, he was in a sorry state. He badly needed surgery on his ears and that was going to cost at least $3000.
“It was like two problems in one,” said Toria Acreman, the director and chair of trustees of The Rescue Hotel. “As Cardiff Dogs Home is council run, paying thousands of pounds of tax payers money for a dogs operation simply was not possible. Similarly, it was difficult to rehome Bruno as whoever adopted him would need to pay thousands for the surgery.”
As the staff at the home hate to see a dog suffer they asked some of the volunteers if they could fundraise to help him and so thanks to our Bruno, The Rescue Hotel was born.
Bruno was one of the lucky ones. There are hundreds of dogs waiting for adoption in homes around Cardiff and it’s getting more expensive to look after them as the cost-of-living crisis bites.
“Our members are all volunteers who have full-time jobs themselves, so caring for the dogs is not stressful for us, both time-wise and financially,” said Toria. “We usually do fundraisers and bake sales, like at the Christmas event we’re organising this Saturday, where we will just be selling our products to subsidise the costs.”
Over the past four years, The Rescue Hotel has helped an average of 350 stray dogs find their owners each year, and will also help reunite over 500 lost dogs with their family.
“I found The Rescue Hotel on Facebook and there were some dogs I thought were cute. So I put up application in August and then become a volunteer dog walker. I walked Gus and fell in love with him then he became a member of my family.”
When talking about The Rescue Hotel, Laura said she think they are doing an amazing job. “They helped lots of street dog having home again, and as for me, I would never purchase a dog. There are so many dogs needed a home and waiting for someone to adopt them in The Rescue Hotel, Everyone who wants to have a dog should come here.”
There are still 10 dogs available for adoption in The Rescue Hotel, if you want to have a dog, then why not come there to give them a home? https://therescuehotel.com/