The Avon Dog and Cat Rescue was set up in the 1960's by Mrs.Margery Palin and some of her friends. Stray dogs were taken into police stations where they were only held for 7 days. At the end of 7 days these animals would be put to sleep. Mrs Palin and her friends would go to the local police stations and collect the animals before the seven days were up. They would board these dogs out until homes could be found for them. When Mrs Palin died in 1973, the Avon Dog Rescue was taken over by the National Canine Defence League at Honiley and Wickhamford and the Avon Cat Rescue was left in the care of her daughter, Mrs. Rosemary Spicer, and colleague Miss Margaret Goode. The original 'shed' has now expanded to 16 ‘cat houses’ in which our resident cats are housed. We have two purpose-built residences with 15 different compartments inside. One of these ‘cat houses’ known as ‘The Hollies’ was built in 2003 and paid for by donations from our supporters. The second set of 'homing pens known as 'Willows' was completed in 2005 when the £22,000 needed had been raised by Helen Hall and all our Supporters.

On average there are between 80 and 100 cats in residence at any one time. At one point the number reached 150. Of the 90 or so cats usually found at the Rescue, over 50 of them are permanent and known as our 'pensioners': these are cats that cannot be homed due to age, health or temperament. Many of them roam freely in the garden during the day and go into heated compartments at night. The others wait patiently to be chosen by prospective new owners

Hollies, having 7 individual pens, was completed in 2003

The entire running of the Rescue is in the hands of a small but dedicated team, who deal with feeding, cleaning, vets’ visits, phone calls, visitors and new arrivals. The entire running costs of the Rescue are covered by fund raising and donations. We have a wonderful group of fund-raisers who are the backbone of our survival. Since September 1994 we have had an official Supporters' Group organised by Helen Hall who has also enlarged and co-ordinated the sponsorship scheme for our resident cats (see sponsorship section). This extra regular income has eased our financial worries, since voluntary contributions are our only means of support. We are out of debt, thanks to many generous supporters, and now hope to keep up the momentum. This means lots of fund-raising, including 3 main Bazaars each year. The Spring and Summer ones are at the Rescue and all our cats can be seen on these days. The Autumn Bazaar is held in the village hall.(see list of events). We also attend fairs in other areas, coffee mornings, and stalls at local events etc. Some people have actually run these for us, for which we are grateful. We also have items for sale that are only available from Avon Cat Rescue: - Tea towels, Canvas bags, assorted notelets (coloured & black/white), cards, bookmarks, key rings, sweatshirts and t-shirts. We have recently acquired many cat-themed items to sell such as cat banks, sand toys, photo frames and ornaments which are very popular. For further details please contact the Rescue.

Willows, having 8 individual pens, was completed in the Spring of 2005

Each year we publish 3 newsletters to keep our supporters in touch with what is going on. They are published in Spring, Summer and Autumn. To receive our newsletters please see our contacts page.