Assisi Animal Sanctuary in
Conlig
Conlig () is a village and townland in County Down in Northern Ireland. It is considered a suburb of Bangor.
Mining
The area includes extant ancient copper mines. Weapons forged with the copper from this mine have been found across Europe, ...
,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...
, is
Northern Ireland's largest independent
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
charity.
It shelters up to 200
companion animal
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, intel ...
s at any given time. These have included
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...
s,
puppies
A puppy is a juvenile dog, generally one less than 12-18 months old.
Puppies are markedly underdeveloped and dependent on their mothers at birth (displaying '' altriciality''), but healthy puppies grow quickly and begin walking thereaft ...
,
cat
The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
s,
kitten
A kitten is a Juvenile (organism), juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are fully dependent on their mothers for #Establishing immunity, survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. A ...
s,
rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
s and
guinea pig
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...
s. Several
hamster
Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...
s are permanent residents, and have been included in the center's
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
education program.
History
The sanctuary was founded in 1995 at the former
USPCA site in
Conlig
Conlig () is a village and townland in County Down in Northern Ireland. It is considered a suburb of Bangor.
Mining
The area includes extant ancient copper mines. Weapons forged with the copper from this mine have been found across Europe, ...
. Since its formation, it has practiced a
"no kill" policy.
Activities
The Assisi Animal Sanctuary has five main goals - providing sanctuary, finding homes for its animals, promoting
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
through its education program, rescuing animals at risk of death through its COAL program and
fundraising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
to raise money to care for its animals.
Sanctuary
At any one time, Assisi cares for up to 200 companion animals. The sanctuary provides a refuge for injured, badly treated, abandoned and unwanted
domestic animal
This page gives a list of domesticated animals, also including a list of animals which are or may be currently undergoing the process of domestication and animals that have an extensive relationship with humans beyond simple predation. This includ ...
s.
[
]
Re-homing
Members of the public discuss their home environment with trained animal welfare
Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
specialists before being introduced to animals that may suit them. In most cases a home assessment is carried out before re-homing an animal. Assisi also has a follow-up process for each of its animals and retains the right to reclaim any if care is not as expected.
Education Program
The Assisi education program visits local schools and other groups throughout the year to inform about the principles of animal welfare
Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
.
Chance of a Lifetime (COAL)
The Assisi Chance of a Lifetime project was established in 2003 with a focus on dogs in Northern Ireland's pounds. COAL has so far rescued over 10,000 dogs, and every week, Assisi continues collect from council pound
Pound or Pounds may refer to:
Units
* Pound (currency), various units of currency
* Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom
* Pound (mass), a unit of mass
* Pound (force), a unit of force
* Rail pound, in rail profile
* A bas ...
s and sanctuaries throughout Northern Ireland. These dogs are then transferred to sanctuaries in England, where there are more opportunities to find them new homes.
The dogs are transported in a specially designed, air-conditioned ambulance, which is fitted out with 20 kennels and driven by volunteer drivers. The road trip to Dogs Trust re-homing centres in Kenilworth
Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District of Warwickshire, England, southwest of Coventry and north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of t ...
or Evesham
Evesham () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, England, Worceste ...
in central England is 800 miles. Both the purchase of the ambulance and the ongoing running costs are funded by Assisi through public donations.
Fundraising activities
Since Assisi receives no government support, it relies on public donations to run both its sanctuary and its COAL program. Throughout the year, Assisi organizes fundraising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
events and encourages volunteer participation in all of its programs.
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.assisi-ni.org
Animal sanctuaries