Because no rescue can subside on good will and good wishes alone. Lacking a free domicile, rent must be paid, bills must be paid, the dog mobile must be kept on the road, supplies such as dog food, cleaning products etc must be bought, and the servant to the greyhounds must also eat now and then.
Because in spite of paying all of the above, it still costs less to run Clare Greyhound Sanctuary than it would cost to put all the dogs in boarding kennels. Currently there are 15 dogs in our care. Kennel bills for all of them would cost at least 2 250 euro a month, and we can tick over on around 1 500 -1 700 a month. That doesn’t give us any margins, but we can make it work.
Because keeping all the dogs in one place means means that we can get to know them very well, we can work with any issues individual dogs might have, use one trusted vet clinic and have one greyhound servant doing everything from cleaning, laundry, vet runs, nursing poorly hounds, socialising hounds, taking dogs to transporters, picking up dog food and being on call 24/7, 365 days a year.
Because there is no secret funding, or income. No big organisation supporting us or backing us up.
Because if we have to close down the places we can offer greyhounds will simply disappear and even fewer greyhounds will get a chance to find a forever home.
Because they are worth it.
This is why we keep going on about the Raffle, our Teaming group, begging for funds.