Starting an animal rescue is by no means cheap or easy, it requires strong will, determination, dedication, a business brain or business thinking, a vision and more than anything the desire to create something worthwhile and needed.
So how do you go about it I hear you say….Well here are a few ideas, some guidance and some things to think about as to how you can start, setup and run your own animal rescue. The suggestions below are by no means meant to put you are off, but they are meant to make you think is an animal rescue right for me.
1. Decide where you will run the animal rescue from, for example will you start it from your back garden, will you need premises.
2. Decide how much funding you need, and how you will get funding, for example will you get local businesses to sponsor your animal rescue, or will you self fund the whole project?
3. Speak to your local council, government and so on, check what rules and regulations are in place with regards to opening and running your own animal rescue, check what you need to have in place and what hoops you will have to jump through.
4. What care will you use, by this I mean what volunteers will you use, can you get a regular supply of volunteers, what vets will you use, and how much will they cost. Are there vets local to you that you can use?
5. Where will you get and source supplies from, how much will these products and supplies costs you, when will you need to restock and where will you get the funding and finance from to purchase these items?
6. Decide what animals you will care for and take in. Will you take in all animals or just certain types or breeds of animals.
7. What type of policies will you offer, for example will you offer a no kill policy, a re homing policy, a we take in any animal policy.
8. Get advice and guidance from everywhere and anywhere you can. Visit individually run animal rescues, see what you can learn and gain from them, find out what hurdles and obstacles you will face, and most importantly be prepared. Starting and running an animal rescue will by no means be easy and there will always be someone throwing things in your way to stop you doing what you want to do.
9. Research and find out what insurances you will require and how much they will cost you and remember to include these in your business plan.
10. Produce a business plan and a marketing plan, as bad as this sounds its almost essential these days. Use the business plan as a guide for how you will run and fun the animal rescue, and use the marketing plan to show sponsors, visitors, volunteers and the general public just what your doing and how/why it will benefit them.
I hope you have found this article both helpful and useful. Good luck with starting and running your own animal rescue, I wish you every success
