About Axarquia Animal Rescue

My husband, Roger and I, moved to Spain in 2006. I joined AAR in 2012 after finding 2 tiny puppies in the bins and hand raising them. I rehomed them to someone involved in AAR and the rest is history!

Back in the UK I worked as a HR manager and Project manager. I was elected President of AAR in March 2015 and am so proud of the charity and the teams I work with. What makes AAR so special is the incredible people that volunteer and support us.

I joined AAR in 2014, thinking that I would just volunteer for an hour or so a week, but it quickly became much more than that. I then became Secretary in early 2019. I do enjoy volunteering, as the work is very varied, and I have made some lovely friends along the way.

I moved to Spain in 2017 with my 4 dogs, 2 of which were rescued.

Just before my first Christmas, I saw a plea on Facebook from a fosterer who needed cover so she could go away at Christmas and my first 2 foster puppies arrived. I was very impressed with the support from AAR and the professionalism and I decided to become a Caseworker.

I had been in teaching for many years and now retired, wanted to work with animals. It’s great to be part of a friendly team dedicated to our furry friends.

I joined AAR in February 2014. Looking back, my life was never as full as it is now!

I started by fostering and as I have three dogs of my own, I thought it might have been too much of a handful but from the first foster I knew I wanted to do more. I was actually a “Failed Fosterer” as I adopted the first pup, "Tiny Tim", then came "Charlie" and the latest one "little Ted" three years ago(in the picture).

I was involved from the start of setting up our first Charity Shop and soon found myself as Manager. I am responsible for keeping the volunteer staff and our customers happy, while securing a very successful and much needed income stream for AAR.

I also take time to take an active part in organising the regular fundraising trips and events that we run jointly with the Royal British Legion. We as a team of five are raising funds for AAR local neuter scheme, which means we can help towards the costs of neutering Street feral cats, for more information on this please email aarlocalneuterscheme@yahoo.com

I joined AAR as a Committee member in September 2012. I am responsible for Vet Liaison. I discuss treatments and procedures with the vets and authorise vaccination packages and treatment plans for all our animals.

I helped AAR to obtain legal status as a charity in Spain and dealt with the communications with the Junta de Andalucía. I also dealt with the paperwork for the opening of our shop and continue to communicate with the town halls with the aim of getting them onboard with our TNR campaigns.

I also purchase the equipment needed to carry out our work: crates, leads, puppy and kitten milk, special food, etc. As well as working full time, I am also a Case Worker for some of our animals waiting to be adopted.

My husband & I moved to South of Spain in September 2017 with our dog Archie – Westie. We wanted to do something meaningful with our free time, so we decided to foster and we contacted AAR.

Our first foster was in August 2018, and since then we fostered 19 rescued dogs of which two – Ozzie (2019) & Diego (2021) we adopted. Now we have our own 5 dogs.

Then I joined AAR as caseworker in 2019 and became involved in most of the events held by AAR. In 2021 I assisted Diane McClelland with the travel management and was trained to take on the role of Travel Manager which consists of organising all the travel for our adopted dogs here in Spain, Europe & UK. Also to liaise with the transport companies and to locate new companies with whom we can work throughout Europe & UK, Ireland and the Islands around.

In 2022, I was assigned to be the Vet Liaison Officer – organising all the vet appointments for the dogs/cats, check their blood test results, liaise with caseworkers/fosters and vets/hospitals/specialist vets, arrange for medication, seek out new vet clinics & hospitals to work with AAR etc.

In 2023, I was offered a place as a member of the committee which is an honour to be part of this group and to work with everyone at AAR.

In 2012, with my husband, we were fortunate enough to take early retirement and move to Spain. In the UK, I was employed full-time as an Assistant Manager in a care home for the elderly, previous to this, I was employed as the Bursar.

I first heard of Axarquia Animal Rescue in December 2015, when they put an appeal out for bottle feeders for pups found abandoned in the village where I lived. I wasn’t able to help with bottle feeding, but did join their Facebook group, where my eyes were opened to the number of abandoned, abused, and neglected animals here in Spain. I so wanted to help and in 2016 joined the rehoming team as a caseworker. I love the role, and there is a true sense of achievement when I find the perfect home for one of our rescue animals.

Since then, I was asked to take on the additional role of Foster Coordinator and joined the committee.