Plea for cash from Sanctuary Wildlife Care Centre
Nov 1 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
AN ANIMAL sanctuary which has provided a lifeline for thousands of creatures is in danger of closure after 17 years.
Owners of the Sanctuary Wildlife Care Centre in Northumberland said unless people responded to an emergency plea for help with running costs, there was a genuine threat it would go under.
The centre has stopped taking in animals or birds because it cannot afford to care for and feed them over the winter months and is instead concentrating on looking after the 157 current residents.
A combination of the terrible summer weather and the cost of fuel has seen the number of visitors drop and school trips cut back, resulting in income plummeting by a third this year.
The sanctuary has been left with virtually no money to see it through the winter months and all of its paid staff are now working on a voluntary basis in a bid to help it weather the current financial crisis and survive.
The centre, which is run by Kim Olson and her husband Allan Pettersson, cares for as many as 380 animals at a time during the summer, including injured foxes, badgers, owls, goats and rabbits brought in by members of the public.
Its food bill alone is s17,000 a year, before it has to find vets fees and the s440-a-month cost of electricity for lighting, heat lamps and incubators. Yesterday Kim said: We are the only wildlife sanctuary of our kind in the North East and our service is clearly needed.
If people want the sanctuary to continue, we need help and we need it now, because otherwise the place might not be here this time next year.
The only reason we have survived this long is that Allan and I have re-mortgaged on more than one occasion and have very high levels of debt. We are in dire straits at present and we have never been this much in danger of having to close.
The couple set up the sanctuary in Alnwick 17 years ago and moved to Ulgham four years later. It operates as a not-for-profit organisation.
Kim said: Stopping taking in any new animals was a very difficult decision for us but we just cant afford to accept any more. If we continue to take in animals, we will close, and that would mean no sanctuary for those here, now or in the future.
The awful weather this summer, coupled with the price of petrol and diesel, has meant a lot fewer visitors coming in and Allan reckons our income is down by more than 30%.
We are hoping to weather the storm but if we have a similar summer next year, we will definitely close.
We would love to hear from anyone who can offer us financial help, donations or even collections of animal feed.
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