Welcome to 7th Heaven Animal Rescue Trust

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7th Heaven Animal Rescue Trust, a non-profit registered charity, was set up in March 2003 by a group of animal welfare lovers united by their common love and dedication to animals. Northern Ireland has the highest rate of stray, abused and abandoned animals in the whole of the UK, with many more animals destroyed here than in any other area. With this in mind, we felt that Northern Ireland was in desperate need of additional help to care for more animals providing them with love, affection, necessary veterinary care and eventual re-homing. 7th Heaven operates a NO KILL POLICY.

Although, we share the basic aims of other animal welfare charities in Northern Ireland, we believe there are ten reasons why we are unique.

1. We do not have a central sanctuary. Instead we care for the animals in our own homes. This means we have no overheads and the animals get much more personal care and attention.

2. We have no paid staff.
None of our trustees or volunteers gets paid anything. As much as possible, all money goes directly into the welfare and upkeep of the animals.

3. All our trustees get involved in every aspect of the charity’s work.
There are no subcommittees or fundraising committees. Every trustee takes in animals, gets involved in publicity and advertising, and goes out and does the hard work of fundraising, whether it be going to a car boot sale, doing a street collection or attending a craft fair.

4. Our trustees will, whenever necessary, go out into the field and collect the animal.
Callers, who are elderly or have no form of transport, cannot be expected to bring a sick or injured animal to a sanctuary. Therefore, we will go to them instead.

5. We provide a ‘Home to Home’ service.
7th Heaven keep a list of people who want a specific type of animal and a waiting list of people who want to place an animal in our care. Every time we get a call from a person who needs us take an animal in, we will check to see if it fulfils the requirements of someone on our other list whilst they await a space with us. If so, we will liaise between both parties in an attempt to get the animal re-homed directly from home to home. This means the animal will not have to suffer any more unnecessary stress by being placed in an artificial environment and can, instead, go directly to their new home.

6. We will take referrals from other sanctuaries.
We do not believe in an ‘us and them’ ethos. All animals deserve the best standard of care and this can only be achieved if all the various charities work in
co-operation with one and other. We are not rivals. We are all striving towards the same goal of assisting animals in need.

7. We will advertise other people’s animals that need re-homed on our website and design and display posters for them at our events. All animals are equal, whether it happens to be under the care of 7th Heaven or still with an owner who can no longer cope with it.

8. We will not refuse to home an animal to a specific area.
Potential owners will not be judged by their postcode but by their suitability and dedication to the animal. When the trustees invite would-be owners into their homes they will assess them by what they say but, more importantly, by their interaction with the animal. We believe that observing potential owners at close quarters, rather than a questionnaire, is the best way to evaluate their suitability.

9. We will always make follow up calls when the animal is due to be neutered.
Because of this, we have an almost 100% success rate of our animals being neutered.

10. Most importantly of all, we do not charge for our animals.
We believe that an animal is not a commodity to be bought and sold. They are sensitive creatures that deserve our respect. We also believe that not charging means we have a quicker turnaround as people on low incomes may not be able to afford the type of fees that other organisations charge and therefore come to us. This means the animals do not get ‘institutionalised’ and we can free up space more quickly to take in more abandoned animals. It does not mean, however, that we give animals out to anybody. All potential owners are thoroughly vetted to ensure the right animal goes to the right owner.