When we saw the headline in the Press and Journal saying “Charity to sell off animal sanctuary” we were a bit shocked and saddened that our efforts to keep Tia going into our second quarter century had been summarised in this way. Then we thought that the best way to respond was to give you more background, which we hope you will appreciate.
The first thing we have to say is that we are not closing down the charity! In fact, we are strengthening our ability to keep going into the future. The only reason we do what we do is that we love our animals and want to keep helping them as much as we can. Selling our current location is just one part of the story, and here is the rest…..
Like many animal charities, for decades we have run a model where we have a fixed rescue centre staffed by paid staff with the assistance of volunteers. This, for us and many similar charities, was funded for years by a mix of charity shops; donations; bequests; and “tin-rattling” fund raising. Post Covid, the world was quite different. Our income halved whilst our expenses began to creep up. To add to this, we had less volunteer time and staff costs have continued to rise above inflation.
In the last few years, and especially since Covid, difficulties in recruiting staff and in getting volunteers has meant that we have struggled to house as many greyhounds as we had hoped, resulting in our rescue centre being under-utilised and a new way of working has emerged, rehoming directly from the trainers.
Fast-forward to 2026 and we have decided to sell our present site and use the proceeds to secure a smaller property better suited to our rehoming work. We will also be collaborating with partner locations across Britain where we can assist animals across the country to be housed, assessed and then re-homed with a new forever family. Hand in hand with this, we intend to continue operating our current site under a lease arrangement, enabling us to provide sanctuary for animals which, through illness or age, cannot be re-homed. The funds released through the sale will be put back 100% into supporting our work.
Are we sad about these changes? Of course we are; we had made long-term plans and done much to make them work but, as President Clinton was quoted: “It’s the economy, stupid!” All charities rely on getting the balance between income and outgoings right. It is never easy. Income can fluctuate significantly from month to month and bills can do the same (although they rarely seem to go down!). We could have tried to go on with our present model and slowly slipped into a financial position from which we could not recover, or taken positive action to ensure the survival of Tia Rescue and, more importantly, our work in rescuing, caring for and re-homing our wonderful animals.
So how to summarise? Tia is alive and well and is preparing to keep going. Although it is sad that we are having to change how we operate our site in Nairn, it is going to help us, and especially all the animals that we love, to have a safe and happy future.
If you or any of your friends and family want to help us further, please donate to our emergency appeal here.