The Future of Tia

To be honest I don’t know where to start, so I’m just going to say it – we have moved to Scotland. We have managed to buy a beautiful 110-acre farm, and hopefully secure the future of the charity.

During the lockdown years we did okay; the animals were safe, and we had massive support and donations of food, meaning we hardly ever needed to buy food for the animals ourselves. Other rescues were not so lucky.

Once again, I thank each and every last one of you.

However, the shops had reached a point where they were no longer viable. Regrettably, we made the decision to close all but one, which after all those years – especially in Halifax and Hebden Bridge – was very upsetting.

But the truth of the matter was this; if we had carried on as we were, we would have been bankrupt within a year. Tia finished; the animals dispersed. The former regrettable, the latter unthinkable.

Most of our remaining charges cannot leave our stewardship; who would have taken James and Kiah together, or Spot and Dot? Let’s not forget our resident nutters who, frankly, are too dangerous to go anywhere.

 This charity has always been about more than just mere rehoming, and these are among the hundred souls who breathe more easily because we exist.

Closure was not an option.

We began seeking pastures new, initially trying to find a farm in Yorkshire. However, with spiralling costs, we stood no chance financially.

So we had to look further afield.

After two years of searching, in April 2023 we moved to Tia’s new home in Nairn. The logistics were eye-watering. We took everyone – everyone (except the newts, who can take a hike). The relocation was not ideal, nor what we wanted, but at least we will be safe (hopefully).

The day we moved, the last greyhound came in – Ben – and for a few months after that I had to stop taking greyhounds in; I cannot tell you how upsetting this was.

[Once settled, though, we will start taking the dogs again. All the greyhounds in Scotland are from down here anyway, the path is deep and wide up the A1.]

Although we are relieved to no longer have a mortgage, we still need income to pay for everything else. [Following a successful brick appeal, we have just started work on our brand new kennel block ______].

I am hoping that at some point I’ll get some free time to actually sit down and maybe turn a spotlight on the industry. Although we’ve been going since 1996, greyhound welfare remains a massive problem, and I have no intention of giving up on these dogs.

As always, we thank you for all your support over the years.

I know things have changed dramatically for everyone, and we are all in this together. I am missing seeing you and your hounds, but if you do need me, I am always on the end of the phone. If any animals need to be returned to Tia, then we will sort it out. Only the post code has changed – most folk won’t even realise we have moved.

And, if you are travelling up to Scotland, we are just off the A96;

“don’t wait to knock! Tea is at four; but any of you are welcome at any time!”

Deb, and all at Tia Rescue

As I write, there are 15 dogs under £500 on the Greyhound data website. Some are FTGH, most range around £200-£300. Cheap graders who frankly should never have been bred in the first place. Fighters, re-qualifiers, kennel blockers for new pups coming through. Most chilling are the females, free under a pup deal, where the trainer/owner gets pick of the litter and the whole rigmarole begins again. Yet another 8 or so indiscriminately bred greyhounds on the ground looking for homes in a couple of years. It has to stop.

 Old contacts from Yorkshire are desperate, willing to pay for the courier to Scotland, willing to pay for the dental/spay. Anything, to get even one dog out of their kennel to make room for a new racer and owner. Tia would love to help but as yet we are in no position to do so. We are however trying to rehome some of the dogs straight from the trainers kennels. A few are being rehomed this way.

Over half of our dogs are old sponsor dogs, most are somewhere near the end. They have slipped their names and stand at ease and we suspect they cannot remember anything of their past. Tia’s routine is their world and our priority. It has always been so, Tarzan being the latest to transfer to the house and he lies at my feet making smells as I type. He thinks he is already in heaven bless him. Dora has just gone to her home in Ilkley after a brief holiday in Scotland.  Hopefully the memories of her time on the allotment will fade. As Dora heads south, Crystal will be making herself at home in her foster home, in South Yorkshire, making one less dog on the GD site.  

Make no mistake we are still in business, unlike some of our fellow rescues who weren’t so lucky. Our survival is  entirely due to you, our irreplaceable volunteers and supporters which other rescues would give their right arm for. Quite independently of Tia, the backroom boys and girls arrange a convoy of lifts to get them here. They pick up the unwanted from pounds, keep them a few nights, drop them off at those who are coming North for one reason or another. Thank you each and every one of you.

Tia has been in Scotland for 18 months and it seems like forever. We couldn’t put the oldies through another Highland winter so were forced to crack on with the kennel block build. The heating goes in next week and hopefully we shall be walking the dogs across the yard into their new homes in three weeks time. Having everything under one roof will make things a lot easier.

 

We still need to pay for this block. 

Please. Help us get over this hump. Buy a brick, sponsor a dog, two if you can afford it. The monthly scheme helps us budget and we can plan for the future. Everything is on our website. A straight donation or a few tins of sardines, we are grateful for anything. Tia has to keep going for the sake of those both here or not home safe. Five years will probably see the game done. We would like to be around to see that day dawn. 

We are just sitting tight and doing what we can. We need to keep going.

If you can help, the dogs will be forever grateful. 

Tia cannot end…..Deb