Midlands animal charity warns people to think carefully before buying pets for Christmas

A military veteran who runs an animal shelter in Iraq from the Midlands is urging locals to think twice before buying pets this festive season, warning that people often underestimate the true cost of owning one and the impact it will have on their lifestyle.

Louise Hastie, who served in Iraq and spent five years living and working in Afghanistan, is now CEO of registered UK charity War Paws, a Wednesbury-based organisation that supports animals in areas affected by conflict and post-war countries.

Its main activity is running a dog shelter in Kurdistan, Iraq, which provides a permanent home for 130 local dogs, as well as supporting a further 800 dogs in the surrounding area.

“As an animal lover myself and proud owner of five dogs, I fully understand the desire to have pets. For those who’ve really thought about the commitment involved, an animal is a wonderful addition to the family.

“But too often at this time of year, we see people buy pets for others without properly considering everything that is involved. This often leads to animals suffering dire consequences after being abandoned, something I’m all too familiar with from my work in war zones and UK rescues over the last 20 years.

“Every rescue charity in the UK is currently at risk of buckling under the pressure of reduced donations and the unprecedented number of animals being surrendered thanks to the rapidly rising cost of pet ownership.

“For anyone who isn’t 100% sure a pet is right for them or a loved one, a better way to show how much they care about animals is to support charities that help animals, as organisations like ours are always in need of extra funds.

“In recent times there has been a lot of focus on the horrors of war, but often people forget about the immense suffering of animals that happen to be caught up in war and conflict. Our team works tirelessly to help these animals, but we need more financial support. There is no government support for animal rescue charities - we rely entirely on public donations and goodwill to operate. As it stands, we are entering 2025 with no certainty that we will last another year.”

This year has been a particularly difficult one for War Paws as the generator that serves its shelter in Iraq broke down and the property also needed unexpected repairs. This came on top of increases in the number of dogs being abandoned outside the shelter and a big escalation in running costs.

“A new generator costs £12,000 and we didn’t have that kind of money set aside; we can barely raise the £13,500 we need each month to run the shelter and ensure every dog gets two decent meals a day and the medical care needed.

“I almost had to cancel the shipments of supplies I planned to send before Christmas, but luckily, we received a donation from our charity partner Raffle House just in time and this allowed these to go ahead.

“However, while we receive funding from Raffle House and we also get a lot of support from people on social media, we’re always in need of more funding. This is particularly vital at the moment as one of our main sources of funding is grants and many grant funding programmes have closed down due to the overwhelming number of applications and grant organisations’ own financial challenges.”

War Paws is a registered UK charity based in Wednesbury in the Midlands. It was set up in 2013 and operates a dog shelter in Iraq, employing 14 local staff, including two veterinarians who provide life-saving medical care for animals in need seven days a week.

As well as housing animals, it also runs a programme to neuter animals and vaccinate them against rabies to protect the local population. In addition, it helps transport animals adopted by serving military and contractors working in areas currently in conflict or recovering from conflict - such as Iraq, Syria and Ukraine - who want to return to the UK with the pets they have adopted from the streets while away from home.