| The
Mayhew Animal Home
|
D
for Dog have a Websearch facility with ClickNow that enables you
to search the web while also raising money for charity.
The supported charities are Dogs Trust, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
and The Mayhew Animal Home. As one of our chosen charities, we contacted
The Mayhew Animal Home and asked them to tell us about the charity.
About
The Mayhew
The Mayhew Animal Home was established in 1886 as a “Home
for Starving and Deserted Cats” and was founded for the
benefit of “the lost and starving dogs and cats of London
so that they should have sanctuary from the cold inhumanity they
are being dealt outside”.
The Mayhew is now one the busiest animal sanctuaries in London,
rescuing thousands of companion animals from cruelty and neglect
every year. The charity provides shelter and care for dogs, cats,
rabbits and guinea pigs.
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The
Mayhew
Animal Home & Humane Education Centre |
One of the most impressive aspects of the charity is their ability
to look at the companion animal crisis from many angles. The Mayhew
Animal Home is a pro-active organisation, continually striving to
find new ways to assist animals and their carers. They operate a
successful neutering campaign and promote respect and compassion
for animals. They also have a policy ensuring that no healthy animal
in their care is ever put to sleep.
“We aim to set the standards in animal welfare. The Mayhew
offers a wide variety of community services providing advice, care
and assistance to animals and their carers whatever their circumstances.”
The charity recognises that many people are afraid or embarrassed
to ask for help when it comes to caring for their pets. There is
a perceived stigma attached to admitting you cannot cope. This leads
to animals being poorly cared for or abandoned instead of re-homed
at centres such as The Mayhew. Their policy is therefore to encourage
a non-judgmental approach to people needing help with their animals.
How To Help
There are a number of ways to help The Mayhew in the work they do.
They have a store of promotional and other merchandise, which will
soon be able to take online orders. You can also make donations
directly to the charity easily and securely online at their Donate
page.
Other initiatives include sponsoring an animal unit for as little
as £3 a month or using The Mayhew Animal Home MasterCard -
a simple way to help The Mayhew Animal Home, with no cost to yourself.
 |
The
Mayhew is always pleased to accept new ‘Friends’
and ‘Volunteers’.
Visit The Mayhew How
to Help Us
page for more information. |
Helping Animals to Find a Home
Finally, lets not forget the animals in their care, all looking
for a loving new home. You can visit the centre to see the animals
currently looking for homes. If you are interested in adopting an
animal, no appointment is necessary. Viewing times are: Tuesday
- Friday, 1.00pm - 3.30pm.
A
number of companion animals also feature on The Mayhew website.
Click here
to meet some of the dogs currently at The Mayhew looking for a
new home.
The Mayhew has an innovative webcam
project that allows you to see right into the heart of the centre
and watch Mayhew animals at play (or asleep!) live on your computer.
Another part of their website that is well worth a look is the
Specific
Needs Animals page. The animals featured have unfortunately
not had a very good start in life. For various reasons their needs
have previously been neglected, resulting in some behavioural
problems. Sadly these animals are often overlooked even though,
in the right homes and with caring guardians, they could make
wonderful companions.
|
Moomin
is an eight-month-old, female Jack Russell Terrier, who
came to The Mayhew on a recent ruscue run to Ireland. She
is a playful soul, fine with other dogs, bonds quickly and
is totally trustworthy, but she can be shy and nervous around
strangers at first, especially men. She may have been mistreated
by a man in the past.
Read about other Specific
Needs Animals. |
If you have any specific experience with some of the issues these
animals might be facing or you have the patience and willingness
to work with these special dogs then The Mayhew would love to
hear from you. Anyone thinking of caring for a Specific Needs
Animal will receive all the support The Mayhew can offer in order
to help turn these wonderful animal’s lives around. Could
you be the special person that these animals are looking for?
Adoption
The Mayhew re-home all their animals to responsible and caring
owners. They also provide ongoing support and advice to all new
owners. Those animals still in their care are provided with accommodation
that is home like, stimulating, stress free and comfortable.
To learn more about The Mayhew adoption policy, visit How
To Adopt.
Contact Information
The Mayhew Animal Home, Trenmar Gardens, Kensal Green, London
NW10 6BJ
Reception & General Enquiries, Telephone: 020 8969 0178
Email: info@mayhewanimalhome.org
Main
website www.mayhewanimalhome.org
Contact www.mayhewanimalhome.org/home/contacts.html
|
A
Visit to The Mayhew
|
D for Dog were invited to visit
The Mayhew to find out more.
D for Dog reporter Karen
tells us about her visit. |
|
A RAINY MONDAY AFTERNOON…..
Whilst on my invited visit to the Mayhew I experienced many emotions
from “aaah, how cute is that?” to feeling sick to the
stomach. The dedication of the staff and volunteers is obvious and
it is a fantastic job they are doing.
Presently there is building work at the Mayhew as the new theatre,
surgery and animal care rooms are well underway, some areas being
close to final decoration and equipment installation. Click here
to read more or to pledge a donation to the Buy
A Brick appeal.
I was met in reception by Vicki Howard, Fundraising and Communications
Team Leader, and given the tour of the premises. I looked round
the kennels and said hello to some of the residents there. Some
of the dogs have been given up due to their owner’s ill health,
some due to family break-ups and some have come from Ireland or
other rescue centres. There was a rather handsome American Bulldog
by the name of Samson looking like butter wouldn’t melt, all
relaxed in his bed with the T.V. on. Also two adorable Retriever
X sisters who had the most melting expressions and are just crying
out for an active home to enjoy.
Along from the kennels is a fantastic ‘meet and greet’
play room where potential adopters can spend some time with the
dog playing and fussing and getting to know a bit more about that
dog in particular from Lisa, the re-homing officer. Lisa also has
a wonderful network of fosterers who help to assess the dogs in
a home situation and under Lisa’s guidance help the dogs through
any issues they may have.
Of
course I also had a look at the rabbits, cats and all the lovely
kittens. There is a specially built rabbit area known as Rabbit
Towers which has everything a bunny could wish for. At the Mayhew
they also have feral cat visitors and run programmes in local communities
helping with feral cat problems by neutering, returning and educating
the locals in how to care for a feral community.
Then
Vicki introduced me to Laura Grossman, Campaigns Officer at The
Mayhew. Laura spoke to me about some of the campaigns the Mayhew
are currently running. Presently the biggest campaign is the S.O.S.
- Save Our Staffies. This breed in particular but bull breeds in
general and other status type breeds such as Rottweilers and crosses
of, are being used and abused, treated like nothing but a cash machine,
constantly churning out puppies, and when no longer productive they
are dumped. I am not recanting stories of puppy farms here either
but Mr Joe Public who sees a way to make a massive profit relatively
easily. Quite often Mr Public will buy a brother and sister and
use them to breed from time and time again. Often these people are
managing to charge £500 for a pup so you can see how lucrative
the business can be.
I
was naive enough to have thought that the main issues surrounding
such breeds was illegal dog fights but that would seem to be only
the thin end of the wedge. The Mayhew offer free neutering for Staffies
and all bull breeds in an effort to reduce the numbers of these
breed types coming into rescue in the future. This service is not
means tested as the important thing is to get the dogs neutered.
Over the last year 45% of the dogs for re-homing at the Mayhew have
been Staffies or crosses of, makes you think a bit doesn’t
it?
Whilst
I had been waiting in reception I had noticed, albeit on its side,
the board of photos and information about the state some of these
poor dogs end up in through breeding and baiting and they are not
for those of us with weak stomachs. A couple of the dogs from the
S.O.S. project are shown here but many of the photos were simply
too disturbing to publish.
Burberry - It is assumed
he was stolen
to be used as bait for dog-fighting |
Inguinal hernia on a dog
that had been
bred from considerably |
The
Mayhew is not just an adoption centre for domestic pets, it is
animal care centre offering reduced cost neutering and micro-chipping.
The Mayhew educates us all as to how we can better care for our
pets and opens our eyes to the plight of the Staffordshire Bull
Terrier, the homeless dogs in some European countries and the
enormous rescue problem in Ireland. The latest in the pipeline
is a campaign to raise awareness of Virtual Pet Shops on the internet
and the damage they are causing providing an avenue for anyone
to sell on animals.
I
would like to thank Vicki and Laura for their time and The Mayhew
team for their warm welcome. Their passion was fantastic.
Written for D for Dog by
Karen Lawe
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| Charity
Search Engine Facility |
To use the D for
Dog search engine facility and help raise money for this charity,
simply click on the ClickNow logo below and search the web as
normal.
Or type this web address into your browser:
http://www.clicknow.org.uk/DForDog |
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the more money the charities will receive. |
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