#RescueAnimalRescue - Contact your MP

What would happen to 1,200 unwanted pets each year if National Animal Welfare Trust centres closed their doors for good?

This is the consequence many rescue centres face if charities like ours do not get emergency government support to cover a shortfall in vital income lost during the forced temporary closure during lockdown.

We’ve been hoping the government would support our sector like it has zoos and aquariums, but so far nothing has been announced despite many popular petitions calling for their help.

Worse still, we are bracing ourselves for a spike in unwanted animals once lockdown restrictions are fully lifted as people’s circumstances at home and at work change.

Politicians have the power to help their constituents – that’s why it’s important to have a dialogue with them and voice your concerns. Animals don’t have a voice but humans can speak for them.

Please can you help charities like NAWT now, by writing to your MP to urge them to raise this issue with the Chancellor?

Tips on writing to your MP

Writing to your MP is actually much easier than you think. You can write a handwritten message or send an email. Whatever suits. The below editable letter template and submission form makes it easier than ever.

Make it personal

Below we have created a letter template and submission form. Feel free to edit the words as you wish to make it personal (if you have a rescue pet of your own you might choose to mention them) and use it to get in touch with your local MP as soon as possible.

Ask for a response

Be clear on what you’re asking of your MP (see the text below) and ask for a response. Make sure you include your contact details too.

Your Name *

Add your first and last name here.

Your Email Address *

Add your email address here.

My Constituency *

Select the constituency that you live in, or start typing the first letters of the area name to jump to the area in the list. If you do not know your constituency, you can search here by adding your postcode or locality - members.parliament.uk/constituencies. We’ve added as many salutations as possible to this list, but if your MPs name doesn’t pre-populate when using this form, please feel free to edit the letter to add your own salutation.

MP Name

Emergency funding for animal rescue and rehoming charities.

My name is [your name will be inserted here in the email sent] and I live in your constituency.

Main Message *

You are welcome to edit the text below as needed. At the end of the message - your name, address and postcode and email address will be added automatically to the email sent to your local MP.

As my MP, I am writing to you out of concern for funding support for animal welfare charities, which specialise in rescuing and rehoming stray, unwanted, and neglected pets. The government appears to have misunderstood the nature of the work and the funding model for these charities, which provide a vital service to the communities within which they operate. In normal times, these organisations rely solely on donations from the general public and receive no government funding for their services.

The coronavirus pandemic has left many of these small locally-based charities, such as the National Animal Welfare Trust, facing a dramatic shortfall in funding due to the forced closure of their charity shops and curtailment of activities at their rehoming centres. To be blunt, these organisations are facing a challenging financial future, which could result in permanent closure.

Government guidance for this current lockdown states that animal rescue centres can remain open, but DEFRA guidance says that animal rescue centres cannot open to the public unless in an emergency or for animal welfare reasons. Whilst rehoming is allowed, it can only be done online, but there are very few animals that can be rehomed through that process.

Therefore, whilst the local authorities will argue that rehoming centres are not eligible for grant funding on this occasion, because they can remain open, in reality, these organisations are effectively closed as they cannot carry out any of their normal activities, except in extreme animal welfare situations.

By comparison, zoos and wildlife parks must close and as a result, will no doubt receive government funding (as they have previously) even though they are as ‘open’ as an animal rescue and rehoming centre, as employees need to continue to attend work to care for the animals.

Moreover, the smaller rehoming organisations operate with very low employee numbers, so the opportunity to furlough employees has been and remains extremely limited.

If charities like National Animal Welfare Trust no longer exist, the cost of managing stray and unwanted pets will fall directly to the government.

I urge you to raise the issue in Parliament with Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

I would be grateful if you could respond to me outlining the steps you have taken on my behalf.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Address Line 1 *

add the first line of your address here.

Address Line 2

add the second line of your address here (optional).

Address Line 3 *

Add the third line of your address here, e.g. town or county.

Postcode *

Add your postcode here.

Privacy *

I agree that my details are correct and please send this email to my MP on my behalf.

Your privacy is important to us, so we’ll always keep your details secure and we will never share your data with other organisations for their marketing purposes. Information about how we use your personal data is set out in our privacy policy, published at www.nawt.org.uk/privacy.

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#RescueAnimalRescue - Contact your MP

What would happen to 1,200 unwanted pets each year if National Animal Welfare Trust centres closed their doors for good?

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