Tag: HELP NEEDED

KAR CLOSES IT’S DOORS

KAR has been established as a registered TRNC Charity,  as many of you know, for over 20 years and during that time we have suffered highs and lows. We are the ONLY Animal Charity here that has over 300 animals being cared for in a privately funded purpose built rescue centre – funded by donations from members of the public and our supporters only. During recent times the lows have been great culminating in the devastating distemper outbreak of 2018. Slowly we have, with the fantastic support of communities and individuals near and far, recovered from that awful outbreak.

We had hoped (and had been looking forward to) 2019 would be a “high” time for KAR – leaving all of the sadness, worry and devastation behind as far as possible. However as 2018 came to a close – we were beginning to doubt our hopes for 2019.

We were beset with major works needed (due to the age of our centre and its buildings plus the ages of our vehicles etc) that were so very expensive. We were hit (along with much of the TRNC) by heavy storms which left us trying to move dogs to safety, trying to rebuild and repair kennels, secure and re concrete compounds which not only were water logged but were also covered in ground holes, our centre office roof needed urgent repairs as the water came through – it all was expense that we HAD to pay out but could not really afford – but it had to be done for the safety and protection of the 300 plus animals within the centre.

We are now into the 4th month of 2019 and it is fair to say KAR finances have not improved – they have in fact deteriorated.

A 2nd round of storms meant more damage – more repairs = more money.

The vehicles that we have are old and needing more and more work and repairs to keep them on the road = more money.

Medicines, vet treatments, cat and dog food – all have increased in costs = more money

Electric tariffs, fuel and water costs (our centre is not on mains water and has to have several XL tankers delivered weekly – do you realise how much water is needed just to keep 300+ animals living areas clean and to provide fresh drinking water!) have all gone up = more money.

Wages have increased in line with government policy = more money.

These are just some of the demands on our finances that have increased.

To add to our worries ;

There are more individuals and organisations in the TRNC trying to raise money for their causes – all from the same donation pot = this has resulted in a  loss of income for KAR.

There are fewer volunteers which means our Charity shops cannot stay open every day = a loss of income for KAR.

Donations for the KAR Cat Neutering programme have declined = a loss of income for the KAR clinic/programme.

We have fewer volunteers to organise fundraising events = a loss of income.

But we do have more of ‘somethings’ – cats and dogs being dumped – despite pleas for the proper process to be applied , cats being neutered by our community program and subsequently more clinic costs, more staff needed to deal with the strict quarantine regime and animal care needed at the centre, more requests for help from outside our area, more cats and dogs in the centre because of low homing numbers.

We have now reached the point where we are having to take action in order to maintain the standards of care that our cats and dogs need and deserve, action needed to keep the books balanced, action to avoid closing completely the Charity shops, action to stop the very successful KAR Cat Neutering programme finishing.  Action to stop KAR folding.

 

In order for us to continue for the foreseeable future :

Our Rescue Centre is FULL – FULL COMPLETLY. We will NOT be taking in any animals until a space is freed up (by homing or loss) – we cannot pay for any more staff, we cannot provide more kennels or cattery places, we cannot take any more animals IN.

Our charity shops – we will try and keep them open as much as we can as they were a great generator of income for us – but there will be times when they will need to be closed – we do not have enough volunteers to help out in them and to keep them open.

Our neutering clinic (and the cat community neutering service) will reduce to only 2 days per week – we are not receiving enough donations to cover the costs of the clinic or the service.

We hope that these precautions will help to keep us going but they will only keep us going for the foreseeable future .

We do have many longstanding (and some newer) supporters and volunteers without whose help we would not have been able to carry on for as long as we have – their support is now crucial to help us keep going with these precautions in place . Our cats and dogs, and all at KAR, owe a massive Thank you to those supporters and volunteer who have helped us so far and who we know will continue to help if they can – sadly it still may not be enough.

This is not a “scaremongering” appeal – it is a reality . We are having to make cut backs in order to “survive” but without additional FUNDS, DONATIONS and VOLUNTEERS, who knows what the future will be for KAR or IF there will be a future for KAR.