Shelter which saves dogs from Romania's 'kill lists' and re-homes them in Harrogate marks first anniversary

A rescue shelter which has helped to save dozens of dogs from Romania's notorious '˜killing lists' and rehome them in and around Harrogate has celebrated its first birthday.
Founder of Woodfield Dog Rescue (part of The Woodfield Foundation) Janet McDougall with Natalie Paterson (fund raising manager) and Hattie Harvet-Light (kennel manager).Founder of Woodfield Dog Rescue (part of The Woodfield Foundation) Janet McDougall with Natalie Paterson (fund raising manager) and Hattie Harvet-Light (kennel manager).
Founder of Woodfield Dog Rescue (part of The Woodfield Foundation) Janet McDougall with Natalie Paterson (fund raising manager) and Hattie Harvet-Light (kennel manager).

The Woodfield Dog Rescue was set up by Janet McDougall in November 2017 after she adopted Arrow and Albert, two dogs which had been saved from ‘kill lists’ by a shelter in Boldesti, Romania.

Since then Janet and her team of animal lovers have built links with the Boldesti shelter and set up The Woodfield Foundation, a registered charity to help and save as many dogs as possible.

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For the team, the journey started on November 12, 2017, with the arrival of ‘The Fab Four’ - the first four dogs to arrive at Woodfield Dog Rescue from Boldesti.

Over the last 12 months, they have raised enough money to help set up kennels, pay for food and build a free clinic in Boldesti to treat and protect the animals from sickness.

Although they are a relatively small operation in comparison to some of the other organisations which work with the Boldesti shelter, Janet and her team have helped more than 30 dogs and have found forever homes for 27 of them in and around the Harrogate District, as well as other parts of the UK.

This November, Janet’s co-workers organised a fundraising event at Harrogate dog-friendly cafe, The Kitchen, to celebrate the first birthday of Woodfield Dog Rescue.

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Fundraising Manager at Woodfield, Natalie Patterson, helped to organise the event and even had to keep under wraps a surprise visit from, Mădălina, a volunteer worker from the Boldesti centre.

The team had worked together to put on a week of surprises to show Janet just how much her hard work inspires them all.

Janet said: “My team have blown me out the water and left me speechless this week. This week they have surprised me and have shown me just how much they love the animals and how passionate they are.”

Natalie added: “She just can’t see how important she is.

“She is right - we all do it for the dogs but we also do it for Janet.

“If it wasn’t for her I don’t think Mădălina would be able to carry on.”