I'd like to introduce our organisation and tell you a little about us and what we do.

Animal Lifeline UK was founded in 2009 to provide much-needed support for animal rescues, both in the UK and further afield. We do this by bringing together rescues and volunteers, enabling us to help more animals in need.

I'd like to make it clear that Animal Lifeline UK is NOT an animal rescue; we do not take in any animals ourselves (and should not be confused with 'Animal Lifeline' which is the name of at least two rescues we are aware of in the UK alone). It is, however, an organisation that works alongside animal rescues, pounds, volunteers and other individuals to help save the lives of animals and promote responsible ownership.

One way in which we assist rescues is by helping to co-ordinate and find suitable volunteers for specific rescue requests. These may involve such activities as home checking, fostering, transporting animals, fundraising or rehoming. We will always do everything we can to support the good work of rescues and it's always heart-warming to see an animal that was once in desperate need become a much-loved member of a new family. We actively encourage individuals and community groups to get involved; if we all work work together we can ensure the welfare of more animals than ever before.

Animal Lifeline UK uses a number of tools to find volunteers and promote the work we do; our website can be found at Animal Lifeline UK: Helping Rescues with Homechecking, Fostering, Transport, Fundraising, Rehoming and more! and we maintain a forum to enable all parties in each case to discuss, co-ordinate and plan rescue efforts. Behind the scenes you will also find busy staff members and volunteers on the phone, sending e-mails and using sites such as this to reach out to and connect potential volunteers with rescues in urgent need of help.

How Animal Lifeline UK operates:

Home checking

We utilise a simple 'automatic' e-mailing system to contact forum members located in the county in which the home check is required to appeal for experienced volunteers. We also encourage individuals with limited experience who would like to become home checkers to 'tag along' with seasoned volunteers to gain practical experience. Of course we are all there to aid and help further that training, and ALUK staff, rescues and volunteers are always on hand to provide support and knowledge so individuals can acquaint themselves with proper procedures and 'good practice'.

If there are no suitable offers, in order to secure that much-needed help, we will often appeal elsewhere; social media and online forums are a wonderful resource and we are grateful to anyone who can get involved and provide assistance where it is needed.

Once a home checker is found and the rescue, volunteer and individual(s) being home checked are in contact with each other that is the end of our involvement. The home check report is forwarded directly to the rescue and we never see it. It is ALWAYS the responsibility of the rescue to carry out further checks and determine which animal(s) (if any) are suitable for that home; Animal Lifeline UK is not involved in that decision making process.

Occasionally we are presented with rescue cases that require urgent assistance. For this reason if a volunteer wishes to have a general home check to enable them to help at short-notice we can arrange this.

In these cases Animal Lifeline UK will find a suitable volunteer and co-ordinate the home check, the report from which is directly forwarded to the treasurer at Animal Lifeline UK. All data is held as per the Data Protection Act 1998 requirements; we take this very seriously. The information is then available to be passed directly to the rescue responsible for co-ordinating the case ONLY at the request of the home checked individual and, again, it is the rescue's decision alone as to whether or not they determine the home/foster home to be suitable for the particular animal(s).

Fostering

More often than not a rescue will request a foster home for a specific animal. In most cases, particularly involving dogs, the animal should have gone through a period of assessment with a suitably qualified or experienced assessor. This is important as it determines the type of home and foster carer(s) to best serve the needs of the animal, and of course the animal should be a 'good match' to the foster family. It is never in the best interests of either animal nor foster carer for an animal to be placed in a home for which they aren't suited, but again, it is for the rescue and potential foster carers to determine suitability. Animal Lifeline UK does not have any part in this process.

As for home checking, we utilise a simple 'automatic' e-mailing system to contact forum members who have previously 'applied' to foster to find out their availability. If they do have a foster space we will ask for permission to pass on a copy of their homecheck (if it is in our possession) or put them in touch directly to the rescue who can assess their suitability to foster. If a satifactory foster home is found we can offer further assistance at this point by helping to find volunteers to help get the animal to the safety f the foster home.

Transporting

Providing assistance with transportation is another way in which Animal Lifeline UK resolves to help rescue animals. Only a verified rescue representative or staff member may post rescue requests on the ALUK forum. A staff member will then contact forum members along the route to find out if they, or someone reliable they know, may be able to help. Once we have found volunteers we put them in contact with the rescue representative responsible for organising the run and it is up to them to carry out checks to assess the suitability of these offering to help. We do provide guidelines on our forum regarding conveying animals safely from the journey's inception to it's destination and are always on hand to help with co-ordination if required. We advise volunteers to check with their insurance company that they are covered when transporting rescue animals, advise them never to travel with children or their own pets (as transport runs often involve carrying unassessed animals) and ensure that both volunteers and rescues are fully informed as to whom they are meeting (with car registration and contact details) and what paperwork needs to travel with the animal(s).

Transport requests are made predominently to help get dogs from pounds or private relinquishments to the safety of their rescue placements. We do, however, also help with transit of animals in other circumstances, e.g. from rescues to foster homes and from rescues to veterinary appointments. We do allow the posting of requests for animals to be transported to their new 'forever homes', BUT as the new owner is ultimately responsible for that animal once it leaves the rescue/foster home we actively encourage them to collect the animal(s) themselves. In genuine cases where this is not possible, but getting the animal to their new home would be both beneficial to the animal (particularly when they've been stuck in rescue for a long time) and would free up a space to help another in need Animal Lifeline UK will always do it's best to help.

Rehoming

The daily task of cleaning out, feeding, and generally just looking after the animals in their care can be a full-time job in itself for some rescues, let alone having to try to find new homes for them too! Animal Lifeline UK tries to take at least a little of that pressure away by actively helping to find homes for those animals. This is so important as not only does it help ensure a positive outcome for one animal, it also frees up much-needed rescue space for another!

With rescues' permission we post details of pets needing new homes not only on our own forum, but elsewhere (including websites like this) in the hope of reaching out to as many people as possible who could offer genuine loving homes. We also direct people actively looking to obtain a pet to suitable animals in rescue so they may consider adopting rather than buying.

Often we are asked to help 'vet' suitable homes on behalf of rescues, sometimes before they even get to the 'home check' stage. This saves time for those rescues who might otherwise spend a great deal of it wading through applications to separate the genuinely good homes from the ill-suited. Initial vetting may be done by a variety of means, including questionnaires, phone calls and e-mails and home checks may then be carried out at the request of the rescue and applicant. The information can then be forwarded to the rescue and a decision can be made as to the suitability of the home for specific animals.

Fund Raising

Running a rescue can be very expensive; food and vets bills alone can quickly shoot up if an animal is taken ill. We will always help where we can by advertising the appeal, crossposting where asked, and trying to drum up as much support as we can. All money donated goes directly to the rescue itself (NOT Animal Lifeline UK) specifically for the cause advertised.

Animal Lifeline also costs a great deal of time and money to run and staff often spend a lot of their own money not just for this purpose but also to try to maintain an 'emergency pot' available to help with urgent rescue appeals. We also hold a number of campaigns and events throughout the year, such as our 2nd annual 'Christmas Gifts for Rescues' challenge that we are about to launch to motivate people across the UK to donate unwanted items to help animals in rescues this winter. Again, these campaigns can be costly to run (our Christmas appeal last year alone cost several hundred pounds) but the vast majority comes directly from the pockets of ALUK staff members themselves.

We have in the past exhibited at The Ultimate Pet Show, held two duck race and fun dog shows and an online auction, the money which we raised going directly to rescues. We have also just launched our 2012 Animal Lifeline UK Calendar Competition and the winners will be featured in our upcoming calendar to help raise more money to help animals in need.

Liaising with Rescues to Find Available Spaces

Arguably this is one of the most important aspects of our work. Stray dogs, if unclaimed by the end of their seven day pound stay, will more often than not be in danger of euthanasia. Given the intake of stray dogs far outweighs the number being claimed by their owners or adopted straight from the pounds then those themselves find themselves in a situation where they have no choice but to put dogs to sleep to make room for others coming in. We work with a number of pounds, volunteers and rescues who specifically focus on getting as many dogs to safety as they can. We assist them by contacting rescues by any means possible to find available rescue spaces, and once found help with transport to get them there!

We are also contacted daily by individuals (many through unforseen circumstances and through no fault of their own) needing to rehome their pets; rescues who pass on individual cases to us to see if we can help because they are already full to bursting; other people and organisations to ask for our assistance liaising with volunteers and rescues to help with larger rescue operations.

Since it's inception Animal Lifeline UK has worked hard to develop a good working relationship with rescues across the whole of the UK and beyond. Many of those we work closest with do not use computers at all; it is not a pre-requisite to use the ALUK forum to ask for help or get involved!

We can't do any of the things we do to help these animals without volunteers like yourself though. So what if you would like to help? Please contact us, either through here, by e-mailing info@animallifelineuk.org or simply join us at the Animal Lifeline UK forum and jump straight in! Even if you can't provide transport, foster, homecheck or any of the above, don't worry; there are still ways to connect with other members and lend a hand!

What about:

* Becoming a member of the team to help with urgent requests of help, posting animals needing homes, e.t.c. ?
* Helping to promote campaigns and the work we do via word of mouth and by printing out and putting up posters in vets and on community notice boards?
* Joining our Facebook or Twitter pages and spreading the word to your friends and family?
* Donating money to help fund the work we do and contribute towards urgent rescue appeals?

Thank you so much for reading!


The Team at Animal Lifeline UK
Animal Lifeline UK: Helping Rescues with Homechecking, Fostering, Transport, Fundraising, Rehoming and more!


N.B. Full guidelines regarding all aspects of volunteering to help rescues can be found on the Animal Lifeline UK forum at Index page • Animal Lifeline UK


Here are photos of just a small number of the thousands of animals that we have helped since Animal Lifeline UK was launched in 2009.


Barney, a 10 month old collie, when his owners could no longer care for him:



Kuvou, an 18 month old cat saved by vets from pts when they took him in and amputated his leg after a road traffic accident:



German Shepherd cross puppy:



Cookie, handed over to a vets at 5 weeks as he was being attacked by the owner's dog:



Diesel & Mucker, living in a car:



Peanut:



Leo, found as a stray:



Whiskey:



Sammy, diabetic cat:



Wizard & Beard, 2 Ragdolls:




Murphy, stray dog saved from a pound:



Whisper, stray dog saved from a pound:



Skipper, lab x puppy:



Sugar:



Angel, pregnant mum (+ kittens born just days later!):



3 kittens found abandoned:



Egyptian Mau:







British Shorthair:



Daisy



Akira:



Pregnant mum & kittens in London:



Tizzy:

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