Ashbourne Animal Welfare

05/12/2025

The Pets Foundation Santa Paws appeal is now live! We will be in at Home Derby Meteor on 6th & 13th December!
Please come visit us to donate to the appeal, pick up a limited edition Santa Paws gift bag, or just chat about how your support helps pets!

02/12/2025

01/12/2025

Margot the Mali!

Margot is a beautiful 1yr old Belgian Malinois who joined us a few months ago after she was found as a stray.

She’s a super friendly girl who loves everyone! But this is where one of her issues lies.. she bonds with people quickly, but she’s an anxious dog behind the boisterous mask, meaning she gets distressed when being left. This separation anxiety also displays when a person leaves the room, despite having others there with her. She will need to have constant supervision initially, whilst work on helping her feel confident alone takes place. An adopter who has experience of dogs with separation anxiety would be preferred.

Margot can get mouthy is she’s excited or feels like she’s about to be left, for this reason she can’t live with young children.

Margot could be workable with cats in an experienced home, and she gets along with other dogs - however she plays rough and likes to chase and grab!

She’s a typical Malinois - very intelligent and keen to please! Shes agile and athletic, and could excel at a doggy sport.. however she is anxious, so she needs to gain confidence before doing anything serious. She’s also learning scent training, and picking it up quickly! We don’t think she would be suitable for the police etc (before people suggest it) we do keep an eye out for any potential working dogs as they come in for rehoming 🙂

Could you be Margot’s happily ever after?

30/11/2025

Cali 😍

Cali has been with us since Valentine’s Day 2024… and she’s still not found her loving family! She came to us with her Sister after their owner realised that they couldn’t give the sisters what they deserved.

She’s a Husky x American Bulldog, aged 3.5yrs.

Cali a lovely dog, but can be wary of some new people, and would need a home without children. She’s very affectionate and is a firm favourite with the volunteers! She’s very cuddly, and really enjoys being close… she would be a fantastic companion.

Cali can get along with other dogs, but tends to prefer dogs her own size or larger. We feel that it would be better if Cali was the only dog in the home, but it would be dependent on how experienced adopters are etc. she’s not cat friendly.

We did briefly rehome Cali, and she settled in quickly.. however she was returned to us due to her behaviour. Cali became possessive over her new owners (even against each other) and the adopters didn’t feel that had the experience to help her overcome this issue.

Cali walks in a halti, and walks really well! She has also previously been walked in a harness.
She’s also muzzle trained too, just in case.

She loves getting out and about on her walks, and loves to play! Her favourite are the squeaky ‘scooby balls’!! As she’s a mix of 2 active breeds, she needs plenty of exercise!

We would love to see Cali in a home, she’s our longest stay dog at the moment! 😫

Enquiries via our online form.

30/11/2025

Brilliant news! We’re participating in the Pets Foundation’s Santa Paws Appeal! We’re being supported by At Home Derby Meteor . Visit between 1st and 24th December to support us, donate, and meet some of our lovely fundraisers!

28/11/2025

Jessie ❤️
She’s a lovely 9yr old Whippet…with a bit of a story!
Jessie’s story with us starting back in July - she came to us with a group of dogs as their owner was too unwell to care for them any longer - the group consisted of Jessie and Jake her ‘husband’ and 5 of their puppies from 2 litters.. as well as a terrier ‘aunt’.
Upon arrival, it was obvious that Jessie was pregnant again, despite her last litter only being 7 months old.

So, not only was Jessie distressed and upset at leaving the home she was born in, and had lived in for the last 9yrs… within a week of being with us, she went into labour!
We watched on a camera as she had 1 pup, but no more appeared.. we were told that she was expecting 3-4, so the next day Jessie went to the vets to see what was wrong, 3 more puppies came naturally after a bit of persuasion and Dan from the staff being a midwife!… but shockingly she still had another 4 to come!! She was too weak, so had to have a C-section, which came with a risk and sadly 4 of her puppies died pretty quickly.

The next issue was 1 puppy wasn’t feeding, and Jessie didn’t really have much milk.. unfortunately despite our best efforts, including taking the puppies away for hand rearing, all of the litter devastatingly passed away within a a week of being born. Jessie was understandably very confused, so we put her daughter from a previous litter with her for company… which seemed to help.

As time went on, Jessie became a little more independent from her daughter (who was rehomed shortly after). But then the next issue Jessie faced was a big dental! She made it through the anaesthesia again, with shiny clean teeth! (and a few gaps!).

All was going well, Jessie seemed to be a happier dog.. and we began trying to find her a new home… until a recently during her walk with a volunteer, whilst having a cuddle, a lump was found in Jessie’s neck, and it later turned out to be thyroid cancer 😔. The prognosis looked bleak, but after talking with the oncologist we opted to scan her chest, which revealed it hadn’t spread… so she could have surgery to try and remove it!
We were warned that the surgery for this cancer can be dangerous, and sometimes impossible depending on what’s going on around it..

She went for the operation on Thursday, and this is her recovering! Thankfully for Jessie it was a success, and she should be back to her normal self soon!

With our vets bills averaging at £10-12k a month for routine care, and a few more big operations booked in for the next month, as well as poor Jessie’s 3 operations recently… any donations would be greatly appreciated, if anybody is able to contribute (using the link below)

https://www.goodhub.com/go/offerings/ashbourne-and-district-animal-welfare-society/donations/create

Jessie’s story just goes to show that rescue is rarely straight forward, and donations in any form are always needed and are very much appreciated!

Fingers crossed that Jessie is in a home for Christmas! She definitely deserves it! ❤️

26/11/2025

Lena is a lovely 14wk old Malinois cross pup who came to us for rehoming due to her previous owners ill health… unfortunately shes already had a couple of homes in her short life, prior to coming to us. Despite her unsettled start, Lena is a confident little lady who bonds with people quickly – she needs a forever family to bond with as soon as possible.

Lena is a Malinois cross (apparently Labrador) but she looks like a Mali! She also shows lots of Mali traits; very intelligent, confidence, and a desire to learn! She has great focus – she’s food motivated and picks things up very quickly! She already knows some of the basics. We would be looking for an experienced home for Lena, with people who are keen to input time into her so that she can achieve her potential. We would strongly advise puppy training classes for her, to continue her socialisation as well as growing the bond between her and her family. She has the potential to be a great ‘cani-sports’ dog, such as agility – she will certainly need something to keep her busy!

Lena is a typical puppy… she loves to play, she loves people and everything is one big game! She’s very affectionate, and does get upset when left alone – this is something that would need to be worked on in her new home. As she’s a puppy, she will need lots of time dedicated to her training – she’s not yet 100% housetrained, and can be a chewer if she’s bored!

Lena has lived with another dog, and could share her home again however any existing male dogs would need to be neutered prior to her adoption. She is workable with cats at this age, providing that they are introduced correctly. She’s not lived with children, however she could go to a home with slightly older children who are able to get involved with her care – however be aware that she’s very much a puppy and can be mouthy.

Enquiries via our online form only.

24/11/2025

Candy! 🍬

Candy has been with us a while now, quietly living in our community room.

She’s around 2 years old, and came to us due to her previous owner having too many cats.

Whilst Candy is a friendly cat, she isn’t a big fan of being touched - she’s happy to be around people, sit on the sofa next to you, or sat watching from her cat tree.. we are getting her used to touch, but this is something that will take time and patience.

Candy LOVES other cats, and has made friends with various other cats who have come and gone through the cattery! Her current pals are Gizmo & Flake (photo in comments) she could also live with a cat-friendly dog, as she seems keen to go out into our cat gardens to see them as they pass by!

19/11/2025

Wow! What an amazing result!

Thank you!

14/11/2025

Don’t forget our Open Weekend this weekend!! 🐶🐱

13/11/2025

Update - he’s now home!

Reports of a dog on the lanes at Stanton/Ellastone

It’s a tan ridgeback/vizsla type dog with a blue collar on

We’ve put it on the village Facebook but no one seems to know whose it is. We tried to get him in the car but he didn’t want to get in the car, and ran into the fields on the map.