Assisi Animal Sanctuary animal ambulance Bangor

Assisi Animal Sanctuary in

Conlig Conlig () is a village and townland about halfway between Bangor and Newtownards in County Down, Northern Ireland. Currently the only area on the island of Ireland that is known to have a thriving population of caiman. These small alligator lik ...

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 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

is Northern Ireland's largest independent

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human 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 such as longevity ...

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 appearances, intelligence, ...

s at any given time. These have included

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

puppies A puppy is a juvenile dog. Some puppies can weigh , while larger ones can weigh up to . All healthy puppies grow quickly after birth. A puppy's coat color may change as the puppy grows older, as is commonly seen in breeds such as the Yorksh ...

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

kitten A kitten is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are totally dependent on their mothers for survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens develop qu ...

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

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'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

s. Several

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The b ...

s are permanent residents, and have been included in the center's

education program.

History

The sanctuary was founded in 1995 at the former USPCA site in

. 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

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 ...

Re-homing

Members of the public discuss their home environment with trained

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

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 pounds 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 in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a ...

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

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

events and encourages volunteer participation in all of its programs.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.assisi-ni.org Animal sanctuaries