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Mother Nature is beautiful but can be powerful and devastating too, as we have learnt to our cost in recent days at The Sanctuary. The severe stormy weather of the night of Saturday 26th destroyed one of our field shelters and ripped the roof off the on-site mobile home. We are desperately trying to raise funds to replace or repair the shelter for the horses so that they have cover for the winter. All donations are very gratefully received, as we literally pick up the pieces of this terrible setback. 

One little piece of 'good news' from the media has just come in: according to a poll of 10,000 people for the ITV show 'Britain's Favourite Dogs', Staffies have been named the Number 1 favourite breed. Whilst this is no surprise to SBT owners, this may help to dispel the poor reputation that this breed has, and could encourage more people to think about offering a home to one of the many hundreds in rescue centres up and down the country. We can but hope.  

Meanwhile, here is our February newsletter, with a catch up on Henry, the disabled 4 year old ex-poundie, our latest fund-raising efforts, happy Gotchas, some verse for lurcher lovers, and a new feature, Rosie's Mini Quiz, along with our regular news.

New Arrivals

This beautiful girl Elsa, 14 years old, recently went into foster with Sam S, our regular labrador fosterer. Sam says that Elsa 'doesn't know how to act her age' - sounds like she is enjoying the mad lab company! Elsa is now ready for her new adoptive home where she will make a delightful addition to the family. Amongst the other new arrivals during January were elderly Gemma and her little JRT friend Max; we are looking for a foster/forever home for them both. Sophie, a dinky staffie, and Willow, a young lurcher who has come back into care due to her owner's illness are waiting for new adoptive homes. You can find more information on these and the other dogs by visiting our website pages: for foster or for adoption.

Top pic: Elsa

1st row: Gemma, Max

2nd row: Sophie, Willow

These are just a few of the recent incomers. If you would like to follow their progress, and find out more about all the others, please check out our Facebook page and website lastchancehotel.org. 

Waggy Tail Endings

Ollie the Westie, pictured here with his foster mum Pam and adoptive mum Debbi, must go down as one of the fastest LCH adoption decisions in recent times. Having been in foster with Pam since mid September last year, he was finally ready for his forever home; despite needing extra special care because he has diabetes, and weekly baths for his skin condition, he was 'snapped up' by Westie lover Debbi within 30 minutes of being posted up on our Facebook page. Have a great life Ollie!

Toffee the little Pug came into rescue in January and found her loving forever home very quickly, - no surprise there, she's a sweetheart! Trooper, our giant Black Russian Terrier, has a new home with experienced BRT owners. And wee Autumn, a sweet JRT is firmly ensconced in her forever home after being in foster with Karen for several weeks. Happy days for these pooches and all the others adopted during a busy January.

Top pic: Pam, Ollie and Debbi

1st row: Toffee, Trooper, Autumn

LCH Sanctuary position still open

We still have a space on our sanctuary for a like minded soul, animal lover to come and stay. We ask that you are able to turn your hand to most things, including working with the animals, building, growing veg, ground maintenance etc etc... no kids at all (sorry), no drug or drink problems and no drama queens. You will need to bring your own living area (camper, caravan etc). This is NOT a paid position, negotiation hours/rent/leccy/water... in a nutshell, a few hours work in exchange for rent etc .... email only please info@lastchancehotel.org. Based in Cornwall.

Fundraisers

Our wonderful supporter Andrew Russell has started a Lotto Bonus Ball Facebook page to raise funds for our ever expanding vet bill. Play is just once a week on the Saturday, at £1 per number. If the Lotto Saturday Draw Bonus Ball matches your number, you are a winner! If you would like to join in and have a flutter, please like the LCH Bonus Ball page here.

Our Facebook Flash Auction after Christmas raised over £900. A massive thank you to Carla and her trusty helpers Helen, KD, and Heidi, for running the show and getting all the lots sent out to winners. Not forgetting all the lovely people who contributed to the auction and bid on the superb array of goodies, - thank you all! A brief respite, and back into the fray with another Flash Auction now up and running, with many bargains to be had. You can join the Facebook group here. 

If you would like to help LCH with a fundraising event, please contact the team with your idea on 01209 281159 or email Louisa on louisa@lastchancehotel.org.

Thank you!

Santa Paws Delivers a BIG Surprise

Wow! What can we say but an absolutely massive thank you to everyone who came along to Pets at Home, Pool branch to join in the Support Adoption for Pets 'Santa Paws Appeal' during December. LCH volunteers Fiona Dyer and Claire Fulcher were very happy to take delivery of a cheque for just over £3000 from PAH manager James. Grateful thanks to James and all the staff at Pets at Home, who are always so supportive of LCH; also to Fiona and the LCH team who gave up their weekends to help make this appeal such a success. 

Amazonians.....

Thank you so much Gemma Sutcliffe and Alex Thomas for these fab gifts from our Amazon Wishlist, - thundershirt, Comfy collars for our post-surgery pooches, a fab toy and supply of balls, leads,  

a bottle of Colloidal Silver which is always very useful, and a fab Buster Soft Cube, for one of our lucky foster dogs. Thank you so much! 

Our delivery man had his work cut out on the last day of January, when several large packages arrived, donated by four fab supporters. A huge thank you to Sandra Roberts, Nick Osborne, Kathryn Cassidy, and Alex, a kind cat lover from the USA, for these fabulous gifts from our Wish list.

A Gift from Pawpers

Huge thanks to Lyn Lay, Liz Ray, Jackie Kersey and all at Pawpers, for this fabulous care package... lots of super cat treats and much more.

Spreading the word...

A visit from a photojournalist in early January resulted in the Last Chance Hotel Sanctuary 'lifers' featuring on the BBC website at the end of the month. A super little video clip, - you can watch it here if you haven't already seen it. This is just a small part of the work of LCH, at the Sanctuary and in general, but it was great that the message was seen by so many people, in the UK and abroad. Much needed donations have come in from all quarters, and we are extremely grateful to all those who have taken time to look at our website, follow our Facebook page, and best of all, donate to the LCH cause, so that we can continue to rescue and care for those animals on their 'last chance'. 

BBC LCH video clip

Rescues Revisited

Some of you may remember Henry, a poundie who came into rescue back in October 2017, just 3 years old and disabled with very wobbly back legs. We thought he deserved a chance of life, and thankfully so did Andrew and family, who took this gorgeous boy on as an end of life foster and have loved and cared for him ever since.

Here is Henry's story....

It was over a year ago when we got the call, a young dog needed fostering in a quiet, calm place as he had a serious back problem and could we take him. We had just lost another foster dog the week before who had a back problem so we knew what to expect and said yes. 30 minutes later we had a very nervous, very chatty staffie cross sat on my wife’s lap. His back legs were very wobbly and would shake constantly. 

Henry was supposed to go in the crate for his own safety as no one at the time knew how serious his spinal problem was. I put the bed in the crate, encouraged Henry in and he settled down for a few seconds only to come out and try and get on the sofa, this happened several times more and I gave up when I looked round to see our other dog settling down for a nap in the crate and Henry looking very content on the sofa.

Henry wasn’t sure on walks at first, his tail was well and truly between his legs and he was constantly looking around nervously. It wasn’t long before he was sniffing, tail out, enjoying the fresh air.

Over the next few weeks Henry was assessed by the vet and taken to Somerset for an MRI. The outcome wasn’t great with his back and maybe some brain damage as the vet thought he might have been hit quite hard on his head and the decision was taken to make the remainder of Henry’s life as enjoyable and pain free as we could, showering him with the love and affection he deserved. Our grumpy old Jack Russell even chipped in, constantly licking Henry’s ears and face. At first Henry didn’t know what to do but now just sits back and enjoys the attention.

So now we have this crazy, lovable dog, several teeth missing and chatty as anything, loving life to the best of his ability, wrapping my wife and I around his little finger, taking up most of the sofa and the bed. 

He is allowed to be let off the lead every couple of months and makes the most of it, we take him to the dog paddock at Chapel Farm* where he spends the time chasing our older dog around like a maniac.

Most days though he is not a morning dog and isn’t happy going out or getting up before one in the afternoon. Then all bets are off as to what you get, - normal chilled out day, or a manic, playing and ‘chewing anything he can get his paws on’ day including a handbag and a couple of shoes. And you had better be ready because if you ignore him he will let you know. We have several holes where he has chewed into our plasterboard walls as proof!

We have had our scares too with his pain meds having to be adjusted as time goes on, just a reminder to us that Henry may have a shorter journey than we had hoped but for now he is happy as Larry, laying on his back with his legs in the air on the sofa that he has made his home, with that mischievous look in his eye waiting for everyone else to come home for the fun to start.

*Chapel Farm Secure Dog Paddock, Newquay. Website

Henry is just one of the dogs in long term foster care with Last Chance Hotel, and we will continue to ensure that he and all the others under our wing always receive the best possible veterinary care whenever required, but we need your help.  Our vet bill now regularly exceeds £7500 a month. If you could spare a few pounds now, or even better, each month, we would be very grateful. And so will Henry!

Rosie's Mini Quiz

Rosie is an ex puppy farm breeding girl. She came into rescue last September with several other Chihuahuas and now has a loving home with an LCH volunteer. She is very inquisitive (nickname 'Nosy Rosie') so we thought she would be ideal to host a miniature quiz!

Name that Breed!

1. BRT is the shortened form for what breed of dog?

2. What type of dog is ‘Teefy Thief’? (you will have to continue reading for the answer to this one!)

3. Britain's favourite breed, recently polled?

4. Sam S is one of our fab fosterers for which breed?

5. And finally, an anagram for all you crossword fans: Riskier, they error.

That was easy wasn't it? The next one will be much more difficult!! (Answers at the end of the newsletter)

Happy Gotcha Day!

“Gotcha Day” is the name given to the day a lucky hound first came into his or her forever home. Here are some tributes of that celebration of love

Budley and Doris celebrated their 3rd Gotcha day in January, and Holly, Loki and Betty have been with their loving families for 4 years. May they all have many more Gotcha days to come!

TIMOTHY

This little devil has been with us a year today. Sam messaged me urgently to say could I keep hold of him for two weeks whilst she found him a foster home and as always that ended well didn't it!! Timothief Tarquin Theodore IV has yet to stop thieving ... in fact less than an hour ago he whipped my scotch egg that I had planned for lunch. We love him really, although sometimes he makes it very hard for us to!!! M de B

Poet's Corner

Dedicated to Timothy, Denzil, and all the loveable long legged rogues in our midst, this is from the LCH fundraiser book 'Rescues in Rhyme and other Pooch Poems'

Did you Know?

We have a NEW LAST CHANCE HOTEL FACEBOOK PAGE, which aims to keep you updated with all the latest news on the dogs and much more. Please click on the link and ‘like’ our page.

We have other Facebook groups: LAST CHANCE HOTEL AUCTION runs auctions throughout the year, with loads of fab stuff up for grabs, raising vital funds for our vet bill.

Our Amazon Wishlist, by which you can purchase specific goodies and have them delivered to us, is a lovely way to send a present for our animals! The link will take you straight there for a browse of all sorts of goodies from toys and chews to harnesses, coats and lovely food.

There are also ways to help raise funds for us whilst you’re shopping online, which don’t cost you a penny. Easyfundraising is a scheme whereby you can shop at many popular retailers such as Amazon, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, and they will donate a small percentage (usually 1%) of your order to the charity of your choice, with no extra expense to you. Giveasyoulive is a similar scheme, with over 4000 retailers involved.

Like all charities, we depend almost entirely upon the generosity of our wonderful supporters. We have several ways in which monetary donations can be made: PayPal is easy and convenient for the many people who hold an account.

JustGiving provides another way of donating and also an opportunity for individuals to fundraise for us through sponsorship of a personal challenge. In addition, it allows us to claim back the Gift Aid part of the donation which can add vital pennies.

If neither of these methods are suitable, then we are more than happy to accept donations via direct bank transfer using the following information:

Barclays
Last Chance Hotel
Sort code: 20-67-19
Account no: 73797503
(Do drop us a quick email with your details so we can say thanks!)

or cheques, if sent to our Treasurer, at the address given at the bottom of this newsletter.

Legacies are also a vital source of support and we now have a dedicated page on our website which provides information on legacies and about leaving a gift in your Will to Last Chance Hotel. All donations enable us to continue our work in rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming, and legacies provide a future for the charity, as well as giving us further opportunity to educate, inform and promote responsible pet ownership.

Thank you from Team LCH and all the animals!

Rosie's Mini Quiz answers:

1. Black Russian Terrier   2. Lurcher   3. Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Staffie)           4. Labrador   5. Yorkshire Terrier

Every great story happened when someone decided not to give up

SPRYTE LORIANO