UPDATE: |’I don’t want to be forced to put 30 dogs down’ News

‘It would destroy me’

The founder of a dog sanctuary says she’ll be forced to have its animals put down if she can’t find a new home.

Alison Clarke, 59, known as Ali, runs and funds Chadkirk Dog Sanctuary in Romiley, Stockport. She currently has 30 dogs.

She said she received a notice to vacate in September. It is understood to site is to be turned into boarding kennels.

Ali, who has been in animal rescue for 10 years and has saved hundreds of dogs, says she has taken in ‘the most difficult dogs that no one else will take on’.

“I get asked every day to take more dogs,” she added.

Many of the animals in her care have behavioural problems and have suffered trauma. Ali she said it would ‘destroy her’, but ‘euthanasia will be the only option’ if she cannot find a new home for the sanctuary.

A GoFundMe page has raised nearly £67,000. But Ali says she’s struggling to find a suitable place to rent. She was due to leave by December, but there were delays with new tenants, she said.

Ali says she could have to move ‘any day’. She found a potential site in Lincolnshire, but was given the devastating news this week it had been destroyed in a fire.

“I was in tears when I found out,” Ali said. “We’re back to the drawing board with no hope – there’s nothing out there. You can’t just rock up and start a sanctuary, you have to get planning permission for a change of use for a start.”

She now wants to buy new premises, but says she’ll need £400,000 to do so. Ali said the premises would be put into the ownership of a trust, meaning that if anything happened to her, it would continue to be a used to care for animals.

Ali, from north Wales, moved to her current premises two years ago after previously spending more than a decade in Hampshire.

She said she has always funded the sanctuary through her pension and is now unable to get a mortgage due to her age.

Ali added: “I’m incredibly grateful for all the donations. I hate asking people for more money, but this is a very desperate situation.

“I’ve searched high and low for kennels or suitable stables to rent and it’s proved impossible. It’s a big ask, I know, but there are so many more options to buy, and it appears to be the only way to save the sanctuary.”

Ali said of the 30 dogs in her care, at least 17 ‘stand no chance’ of being re-homed and that it would be a real struggle to find families for the rest.

“People comment, put them up for adoption or give them to rescues,” she added. “But these dogs can’t be rehomed, and rescues up and down the country are full. I’ve only had two rescues come forward to help. I might be able to place a few of the dogs.

“Most rescues don’t have the set-up I do to provide an enriched life for dogs being kept long term. The dogs have a good life with me, and I can’t bear the thought of them being confined to kennels 24/7.”

Anyone with suitable premises is asked to contact Ali on [email protected].