We're thrilled to announce that we are celebrating its 20th year of rescuing unwanted and abandoned dogs across South Wales. Our founder and CEO, Vanessa Waddon, reflects on how it all started.

 “ I can still vividly remember reading about Last Hope back in 2004, a greyhound from Valley track that was found on Fochriw mountain, shot with a captive bolt gun and with his ears hacked off so he couldn’t be identified by his tattoos, all the time his tail still wagging. I remember being reduced to tears and thinking how awful that was, but more importantly, I knew I wanted to do something about it.

I responded to a call for action to support a demo outside the court where the case was being heard, and met some passionate volunteers from Greyhound Rescue Wales and Greyhound Action. The more I learnt about the cruelty involved with greyhound racing, the more I wanted to help. I started doing some local campaigning and volunteering, where I also found out about the plight of stray dogs and how at that point over 10,000 were being destroyed every year due to a lack of a rescue space or home. 

This broke my heart, and I started volunteering to help find rescue spaces for dogs in local authority stray dog pounds. Hope Rescue was born out of this work, named after Last Hope, the dog that inspired my rescue journey. A dedicated team of volunteers went into the pounds , assessed the dogs and found rescue spaces, supported by a network of transport volunteers.

We quickly expanded, using commercial boarding kennels and a wonderful team of foster homes so we could also rehome dogs. We achieved charity status in 2009 and took on our first paid employee in 2010.

I can't believe how far we've come in 20 years. We’ve stayed true to our roots and continue to prioritise stray dogs, now taking in a third of all the unclaimed strays in South Wales as well as dogs seized from illegal and low welfare breeders, and dogs from owners in crisis. We now have our own rescue centre, a team of more than 50 staff, four charity shops, a community programme, hundreds of amazing foster carers and the BEST volunteers. We have a strong advocacy voice, and the best anniversary present ever would be to come full circle and see Welsh Government announce the end of greyhound racing in Wales.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to us! Stay tuned for a year of reflection and celebrations!”