Please Help Us To Start Again
The last six months have been a harrowing time for us all here at Fur and Feathers. Never did we imagine we would suffer blow after blow in such a short space of time.
Below is a timeline of what has been happened, which has led us to our current situation.
We no longer have the land to run our sanctuary from. Our home is now either sold, or packed into storage facilities dotted around Birmingham. All our animals are safe and cared for in foster homes, and we are moving to temporary foster-care based operation.
The sanctuary was the beating heart of everything we do. It provided help and hope to us, to our loving community, to our volunteers - and most importantly - to hundreds of animals that learned what love is.
What We Need
Land
Finance
- Minimum of 2 acres
- Within a 10 mile radius of Kings Norton
- Have water and electricity, or the possibility to be installed
- Have good vehicle access from the road
- Have hardstanding
- Either to rent long-term or to buy
- To buy outright if the right land comes along
- To rebuild the sanctuary - most of pens, sheds etc were sold due to lack of storage
We know times are hard, but please, if you are in a position to do so - donate what you can on our GoFund Me. We are a long way from where we need to be to stand a chance of re-opening. Every penny counts, and every donation is appreciated!
Timeline of the Last 6 Months
October 2022
We suffer a devastating and senseless break-in. Our animals have been released, several are severely traumatised, others are missing and our pens have been smashed. It takes us weeks of sleepless nights and searching to re-secure the sanctuary and - by some miracle - find all three of the missing cats.
November 2022
We receive third-party information that the land we have built the sanctuary on over the last 14 years has been put forward to the council for consideration for residential development. Our landlord had been reassuring us we were safe on the land, but it would seem that was untrue.
December 2022
We begin our search for new land. At this point, we are hurried but believe time is on our side. Perfect locations are scarce, and those that are available are financially out of our grasp. Lots of local land seems to be up for grabs for developers only.
January 2022
We begin to scale down our operation. We have become disillusioned by the availability of land, and we begin to worry for our future. We reluctantly take in less animals, in preparation for worst case scenario.
February 2022
Our landlord contacts us to arrange re-signing our contract for the coming year. We ask him if we could hold off for a few weeks whilst we view some land with a mind to buy. Ideally we want to avoid committing to another year, as the trust between us and our landlord is broken.
Early March 2022
We receive a text from our landlord saying he was no longer willing to enter into a contract with us. He is resolute on this, and is unwilling to consider selling the land to us. He gives us time 'within reason' to vacate the land. We spend hours daily sending emails, chasing leads, making phone calls - but all to no avail.
Late March 2022
We are approached by an incredibly generous landowner in Burcot. He is willing to rent us his land on a long-term lease for a peppercorn rent. A miracle! We begin to plan our move.
April 2022
We receive a brutal phone call from Bromsgrove District Council planning officer. We are rudely told that our plans have been reported to them, and that what we are doing - even simply installing stock-fencing - would require planning permission. In no uncertain terms, we are told that we would be extremely unlikely to get planning permission so to find ourselves somewhere else to go.