A Wirral animal rescue service makes urgent appeal for help to secure new home after being given four weeks to quit its current premises, with 50 dogs facing homelessness. Tony McDonough reports

Wirral animal rescue service Celandine Wood Animal Rescue (CWAR) says its 50 rescue dogs will be without a home in four weeks when it is forced to quit its current premises.

Run entirely by volunteers – CWAR  has 50 dogs in its care and also takes in cats and wildlife from Merseyside and beyond. It is urging anyone able to foster or adopt a dog to get in touch.

It was launched in Heswall in 2023 by vet Dr Sharon Williams, who for years has been taking animals home that were brought in unnecessarily for euthanasia. Friends began to help and CWAR was born.

Now it has just four weeks to find a new home. Dr Williams is seeking donations and offers to take in animals.

“We have kindly been allowed to use the land for free, which we are very grateful for because it has meant we have been able to save many animals’ lives. But now it is being sold and we need to relocate.”

The landlord has offered the rescue another area of land to rent, but there’s no fencing or buildings on it. Rescue volunteers are striving to raise funds to erect temporary kennels to keep the dogs safe and sheltered.

There is a plan to build a permanent purpose-built facility to quadruple the rescue spaces it currently offers. This will cost around £1m. Initially, Sharon worked on her own but now has a 30-strong team who have saved around 1,000 animals.

She added: “My team of volunteers work incredibly hard day in, day out to rescue animals and bring funds in. One animal can cost us thousands in veterinary care. But now we are facing a real threat to our dogs and our future and we can’t save them by ourselves.

“People who can adopt or foster – please come forward because you will literally be saving a dog’s life. I know times are tough for many, but I’d ask everyone reading this now to please donate whatever you can.

“And even if you can’t afford to donate, please share our appeal and help us spread the word.”

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Ms Williams is keen to hear from generous business owners who could help with fencing and outbuildings for the dogs. CWAR also hopes that individuals, firms and community groups will organise their own fundraising to help it reach its target.

To donate via PayPal, you can visit here. To give using GoFundMe, click here. To apply to adopt or foster a dog or cat visit here.