An Angus animal sanctuary’s appeal for cash has won the hearts of several Courier readers.
Kind-hearted readers from across Courier country have been donating up to £100 a time after they were moved to help the busy Mountains Animal Sanctuary in Glenogil.
The sanctuary normally looks after around 130 horses and donkeys at any one time, but that has increased to almost 160 in recent months
In the first three months of the year, the centre took in 22 animals. It normally only welcomes 19 over the course of a whole year.
In recent weeks the number has gone up, with the arrival of three newborn foals to horses that were pregnant when they were rescued.
The last of the foals, Zak, was born this month, sparking the appeal for help, and staff are delighted with the response from the public.
The sanctuary’s founder and chairman Alan Fraser said, “I’m thrilled about the donations. We’ve had one person give us £100, and others have handed over £40 or £10.”
The centre is still keen for donors to get in touch. If you would like to donate, call 01356 650258, email frasermas@aol.com or visit www.mountainsanimalsanctuary.org.uk
The centre also makes money through its visitor centre at Milton of Ogil, which is open daily from Easter to Christmas between 2 and 4.30pm. It is also open Friday to Monday between 2 and 4pm during the winter.Plans for a bookMr Fraser has announced plans to start work on a memoir of his 40 years in animal welfare. His long association with the cause began on Tenerife in 1970, before moving to Spain, then Guernsey and on to the south of England, where he founded the Mountains Animal Sanctuary in 1982.
The centre quickly outgrew its original Kent site and it moved to its Angus home 19 years ago, where it has continued to enjoy great success.
It employs 11 full-time staff, 12 part-time staff and a number of volunteers.
Alan is keen for his life’s work to be used to highlight the plight that still faces animals across the world. “I’m planning to write a book entitled 40 Years Of Animal Welfare,” he said.
“People have been pressing me to do it for years but I’ve now decided that it is a good time to do it. It is going to cover all the way back to November 1970 on Tenerife. Animal welfare there was ghastly at the time. I’ve had some terrible experiences over the years.
“Dog kennels on Tenerife were rounding up stray dogs every now and then and putting them in old compounds before dowsing them in petrol and setting fire to them. Vets on the island also didn’t know how to put animals to sleep painlessly and were using strychnine, which is awful, but I found out that one of the Queen’s vets had retired to the island and so I got in touch with him and he agreed to demonstrate painless ways of putting animals to sleep.
“I also went to see the local governor to see if he knew what was going on. He was equally shocked and put a stop to it.”
As well as helping to improve the lot of animals in Tenerife, Mr Fraser has since enjoyed other successes in improving animal welfare, home and abroad.
On one occasion he was able to blow the whistle on a safari park that was act-ing as a “feeder channel” for zoos and circuses. He hopes to get a ghost-writer to help him with his new book. If anyone can help, call him on 01356 650 258.