Pointers In Need are celebrating their 8th year of rescuing and rehoming our beautiful breed. We continue daily to work with our Pointers, rescuers and fosterers – it’s so valuable to have a great team whom can work and come together in these extremely sad and hard times.
We’ve had some very upsetting cases this year, and a few of our Pointers have gone to heaven through disease, abandonment and through sheer punishment, all of which is very distressing for us. We do also see the appreciation, the rewards and the smiles from our adopters when they receive their Pointer in their home – in the end the love, reward and satisfaction out rules the pain.
This year we have rehomed 74 Pointers and financially helped over 100 Pointers, paying for transport services, boarding help and vet fees. A new ruling came in from DEFRA, new paperwork, CHEDA, all of which is a minefield for our Volunteers behind the scenes who make sure all paperwork is correct for the EU borders. A single mistake can result in the transport being held up for many hours or in extreme cases the Pointer being confiscated until the paper work is corrected. We transport at least three Pointers per month, so it’s a huge exercise as well as every other bit of detail that goes with the adoption.
We’ve raised just over £8,000 in fundraising and £5,000 in our small auctions over the last year.
I am absolutely so proud of my amazing team.
I would love to take the opportunity to thank every single human who is involved within the charity and the silent ones behind the scenes. I am extremely grateful for all your help.
My passion within rescue continues daily, being on the forefront takes its toll mentally but I am learning after 25 years of rescue to try to take a little time for myself a few times a week. It helps.
Yours and always here, Claire x
Claire Gouzoulis CEO Pointers In Need
Here are a couple of short write ups from some of our Volunteers.
“There have been dogs in my family for over 30 years and as an adult I have had between one and four dogs at any one time – including beautiful Pointers – usually rescue or rehome. By far the worst case was a little pocket-pointer I adopted from Cyprus, a bag of bones, shut-down and terrified of everything. Seeing her grow in confidence and blossom into the happy, trusting dog she is now made me more committed to rescue but there was a limit to how many dogs I could adopt. When Claire posted an appeal for volunteers to help on the Pointers in Need adoption team I jumped at the chance. It would enable me to help other people see and experience the benefits of adopting a rescue dog and in doing so, help dozens of neglected, abandoned and abused dogs have a life they could only have dreamed of.
I have worked with the Pointers in Need team for two years. I had no idea how much work goes on behind the scenes to get a rescue dog fit and able to travel to the UK – and how much it all costs! The work can be frustrating and there are often tears. Some of the cases we handle are deeply upsetting, however through it all Pointers in Need are compassionate but always professional. They go the extra mile to match each dog with the perfect family and seeing the joy experienced by an adopter taking their rescue Pointer home for the first time and hearing their happy stories over the following months makes all the hard work and anguish worthwhile.”
Penny Nichol, Volunteer
“I had lost both of my dogs within six months of each other. The house was way too quiet without a dog under foot. That’s when I stumbled across Pointers which led me to Pointers In Need. Through Pointers In Need I adopted Cooper and then shortly after, Jia. There was no going back. Seeing all the stories on the Facebook page, the pleas for homes, the celebrations of dogs arriving, the progress updates from adopters and the passion from the Pointers In Need team towards the dogs and caring about the adopters, really pulled at my heart strings. I wanted to get more involved to help these dogs on their journey to a new life. I opened my home to fostering for Pointers In Need. I have had 16 foster dogs to date and I can’t see me giving that up anytime soon. The love and support from all of the team is unmeasurable. The reward of seeing these poor dogs metamorphosise into more confident loved members of the family, I am so proud that I can be a part of that.
In a strange turn of events, becoming a fosterer and then foster coordinator has had such a massive impact in my life. Due to my role, I have travelled a fair few miles driving to collect dogs, drop off dogs, support adopters, do home checks. A few years ago I would never have been able to do that. Last year I travelled to Norfolk for our annual funday. I cannot thank all of the Pointers In Need team enough for their support. I have never felt so welcomed or supported. This has helped me so much to grow as a person. The whole team not only care about the dogs but are so supportive of all the adopters. I have never seen this in a charity.
There have been many sleepless nights, many tears shed, many phone calls with the team who are always there to support me, not only in relation to the foster dogs or the foster co-ordinator role but on a personal level too. We share our good news, our bad news and we are like a little family who have been brought together over the love of Pointers. But seeing the success stories and updates of each dog makes all the hard work worthwhile.”
Rachel Larter, Volunteer
