iimprove are pleased to be able to help with the supply of building materials for the new kennels at Shar Pei Rescue & Welfare UK

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The kennels are currently occupied

by three orphan lambs, so demolition work is on hold for a few weeks.

For those of you who follow our website, you will know that one of the reasons we bought this tumble down farmhouse was because it had two kennels. However once we had moved in we soon realised that to be able to house a dog there, they virtually had to be torn down and re-built.

We asked for help (money, materials and labour) to be able to get this project going, and as always your generosity allowed us to believe we could realise this part of our dream.

Although shar pei are not good in kennels, we wanted somewhere a frightened, anxious dog could be placed whilst we found a foster mummy or daddy (48 hours at most) who was at risk of being put to sleep, or somewhere safe where we could gradually introduce a dog into our own pack whilst owners went away, were sick or needed our help. Every dog we have homed is a part of our extended family and all of them deserve our help and support, should they need it. So this was a part of our dream to extend the capabilities of shar pei rescue and welfare UK. We just needed money (as always) and time to get things off the ground.

The kennels that exist are rotten in the roof and floors, the windows are falling out, there is no drainage, water, heating or lighting and the wind whistles through terribly. There is also no means of shutting one kennel off from the other, virtually making one kennel with two bedrooms??

We needed to virtually start again. In the interim, of course we've been able to home ducks, lambs, rats and mice, though the two latter species weren't particularly welcome and had moved in before us!

The first set back was when a lovely local builder who had offered to re-build the kennels for a very reasonable price, was ready to start but we didn't have the money or materials to begin. Time has passed and then sadly, after our two sponsors Improve and Keyline donated some materials, our builder collapsed with a brain haemorrhage, complicated further by being followed by two strokes. He is still in hospital as I write this and his improvement is very slow. We visit him regularly and try to help support his family as best we can. We don't forget those who give up their time etc to help the rescue.

To add to our woes, as many of you are aware, our personal lives have changed and we are now in the difficult position of not knowing what the future holds for us, however, I find it hard to accept being beaten by circumstances and intend to go ahead with our plans unless physically stopped!

We still need help with the kennels. We need timber, roofing and physical help…bricklaying, plumbing, electrics etc Neill is going to give it a go himself (buying a house like ours is a real learning curve) as he's now lounging around at home (haha!) but he can't do it alone and as I'm no longer as useful (lifting, shovelling, carrying, fetching etc) we need others to step in and help us??

Hopefully as the project starts and grows I will be able to keep you up to date with our progress here and let you follow our work. I will introduce you to the wonderful people who do step in to help.

When something is good and people want to give back a little, because they love their own dogs and don't want others to die, because there is nowhere for them to go and they know we'll take it on, people usually step up….well, lets hope so?

A quick update....the lambs are getting bigger by the day and are soon to go back to the flock. Little Eric (who suffered pneumonia from milk asperation and is therefore smaller than the others) is now dyed partially pink??? Just vegetable dye...don't panic! He's such a little sweetie, i wanted to be able to recognise him from a distance once he was back with 300 odd sheep

I digress...we now have UPVC windows kindly donated by NATARO and are hoping they will come up with a couple of doors too. We've dug up the floor adjacent to the kennels and discovered the bodies of several petrified rats, but now have to wait until we can afford the plumbing in the bathroom, as this has to be sunk before the floor is re-laid and the kennels moved.........Soon as Neill finds a job, it's all systems GO!!!