Rescue centre saved by 'astonishing' £20k donation

Julie Shelton helps to look after Cato, a chow chow dog, which has several health conditions and is Appledown Rescue's office dog

Staff at an animal rescue centre were "astonished" to receive a £20,000 will bequest "out of nowhere", which is set to keep the service running.

Julie Shelton, who has managed Appledown Rescue and Rehoming Kennels in Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire since 1999, said it had "nowhere near enough money" as it often cared for up to 100 dogs at a time.

She said she was constantly worried about its funds and before Christmas did not think it "could keep on going".

The donation will help cover bills, including about £1,000 a month in electricity and £2,000 a week in staff costs.

The centre has a yearly veterinary bill of about £80,000.

Princess, the German Shepherd, has lived at the shelter for two years

Ms Shelton said running the facility, which looks after and rehomes stray and abandoned dogs, was "really hard, as you have nowhere near enough money, it's a struggle to get staff to put the hours in, and there are just way to many dogs".

"Out of nowhere we got a call to say that we had a bequest in a will and we had £20,000, it literally changed our lives, and took the stress away," she said.

"That money has kept us going and allowed us to look at other ways to start raising money.

"Everything we have has to go to the dogs before it goes to maintenance, and we have a lot of maintenance we need to do."

Yasmine, a nine-year-old Presa Canario, is looking for a family to foster her, and could live for another two years

She said many of the dogs stayed at the centre for years but it offered an "end of life" dog fostering scheme - where families can take a dog that is older or has a complicated health condition but Appledown covers treatments and vet bills.

"Every single person who has taken an end-of-life dog said they would do it again," she said.

Seeing a dog settled in its new home made everyone at the kennels "more happy than anything", she added.