An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until they were claimed by their owners.
A puppy mill, also known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility characterized by quick breeding and poor conditions. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in Avenson v. Zegart in 1984 as "a dog breeding operation in which the health of the mill’s dogs is disregarded to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits". They are cited as being a result of increased demand for household pets, especially after World War II. The Veterinary Medical Association of the Humane Society of the United States defines the main characteristics of a puppy mill as "emphasis on quantity over quality, indiscriminate breeding, continuous confinement, lack of human contact and environmental enrichment, poor husbandry, and minimal to no veterinary care."
Paul James O'Grady was an English comedian and broadcaster, drag queen, actor, and writer. He achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his drag persona Lily Savage, through which he gained wider popularity in the 1990s. O'Grady subsequently dropped the character and in the 2000s became the presenter of various television and radio shows, including The Paul O'Grady Show.
An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization is a group dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take unwanted, abandoned, abused, or stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run by volunteers, who take animals into their homes and care for them—including training, playing, handling medical issues, and solving behavior problems—until a suitable permanent home can be found.
Dogs Trust, known until 2003 as the National Canine Defence League, is a British animal welfare charity and humane society which specialises in the well-being of dogs. It is the largest dog welfare charity in the United Kingdom, caring for over 15,000 animals each year. Dogs Trust's primary objective is to protect all dogs in the UK and elsewhere from maltreatment, cruelty and suffering. It focuses on the rehabilitation and rehoming of dogs which have been either abandoned or given up by their owners through rehoming services.
A no-kill shelter is an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals based on time limits or capacity, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals, animals suffering poor quality of life, or those considered dangerous to public safety. A no-kill shelter uses many strategies to promote shelter animals; to expanding its resources using volunteers, housing and medical protocols; and to work actively to lower the number of homeless animals entering the shelter system. Up to ten percent of animals could be killed in a no-kill shelter and still be considered a no-kill shelter.
The Blue Cross of India (BCI) is an animal welfare charity based in Chennai, India. It was established in 1959 by Captain V. Sundaram, his wife Usha and their three children, in Chennai. The society was formally registered in 1964 under the Societies Registration Act. The nine signatories to the Articles and Memorandum of Association were Captain V. Sundaram, Usha Sundaram, S. Chinny Krishna, Suresh Sundaram, S. Vijayalakshmi, D. Daivasigamony, Kamakshi Krishnamoorthi, Sundari Nataraj and T. V. Chandrasekhar. It is now one of the country's largest animal welfare organisations. It runs several animal welfare programs including animal rights awareness.
DogsBlog.com is a UK dog rescue website founded by Ryan O'Meara and Kim Bruce, and set up by K9 Media Ltd. It was launched in January 2007, and has since found new homes for over 21,000 dogs via the website which provides a free service for 212 different rescue shelters.
Larry is a British domestic tabby cat who has served as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street since 2011. He is cared for by Downing Street staff and is not the personal property of the prime minister of the United Kingdom.
The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) is the organisation that governs licensed greyhound racing in Great Britain. It does not govern independent tracks or Northern Irish tracks and therefore has no jurisdiction over them.
For the Love of Dogs with Alison Hammond is a multi-award winning British reality documentary television series set at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, presented by Paul O'Grady until his death in 2023, and by Alison Hammond from 2024. Under O'Grady it won numerous awards. The show is made by MultiStory Media and premiered on ITV1 on 3 September 2012.
The British Animal Honours is a British awards ceremony which honoured the country's most extraordinary animals and the people who dedicate their lives to them. The programme was broadcast by ITV and was presented by Paul O'Grady. Animals are nominated for honours by members of the public, with the winners being decided by a panel of animal experts.
The Swan Sanctuary, Shepperton is a wildlife hospital dedicated to the treatment, care and rehabilitation of swans and wildfowl in the UK and is situated close to the village of Shepperton in area of Middlesex, England. The Swan Sanctuary is registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as Veterinary Premises No. 7002114 – Sally Goulden, B. Vet. Med., Cert. G.P. (SAM), MRCVS
"Cameras follow the RSPCA as they rescue dogs from the worst of circumstances."
Palmerston is a cat who was the resident Chief Mouser of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) at Whitehall in London. He is a black-and-white bicolour cat and began his role in the position of Chief Mouser on 13 April 2016. Previously, he was from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and is named after the former Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. He was employed at the King Charles Street building.
Gladstone is a British cat who is the resident chief mouser to HM Treasury in Whitehall, London. He is a domestic short-haired cat, who, at eighteen months old, assumed the position of chief mouser in late June 2016. Gladstone's political namesake is former Chancellor and Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, who served for four separate periods, more than any other Chancellor. Gladstone is responsible for catching mice at the Treasury's 1 Horse Guards Road building.
Claire Ellen Horton is a British executive and charity worker. Since January 2021, she has been Director General of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), the body responsible for the care and upkeep of the graves and memorials of the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth Forces who died in the first and second World Wars. CWGC operates in 23,000 locations across 153 countries. Previously she was the chief executive officer of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (2010-2021), she was appointed into the role of Battersea Vice President in December 2020, chief executive of the University of Warwick Students' Union (2002–2008) and the chief executive of the Variety Club of Great Britain (2008–2010).
Nowzad Dogs is a British-based animal welfare charity. It was created by Pen Farthing, a former Royal Marines commando, after rescuing a dog he called Nowzad whilst serving in the town of Nawzad in Afghanistan.
Mary Tealby was an English animal welfare campaigner. She is noted for founding the Battersea Dogs' Home. It was founded in Holloway, London in 1860 and moved to Battersea in 1871.
