Miranda first met Raiph when she was volunteering in a Romanian dog shelter. As she walked in, through the stench and faeces, she saw a little person staring at her through the main compound. That was Raiph. He had had his tail cut off with a pair of scissors. He was severely underweight and he was in a compound of around 55 other dogs; they didn’t all have kennels. They were knee deep at times in faeces. From the morning to the evening, while she was there cleaning, Raiph would follow Miranda around, wherever she was. He would just watch. He would be the first and last face every day.…

Alba came to us because her matriarch had died. She had lived with one lady her whole life, and she was ten years old. When the old lady died no one in her family wanted Alba, so she was off to the SPA. She was suffering deeply from grief; she had chewed off most of her tail and her back end, and she was hideously overweight – almost killed with kindness. She could hardly walk, she couldn’t run, she wasn’t used to walking on a lead as she had never been let out of the compound. When we had her, she had no coat, just stubble, her nose was sore…

Hiona is a French dog, and she came from near Clermont Ferrand. Hiona was victim of a divorce. Sometimes people fight over custody of a pet; the family split and she was no longer wanted. She was incredibly skittish and unable to walk on a lead at all. We don’t know why she is so nervous because it appeared that she came from a loving home, but she is still incredibly hand shy, no matter what we do. Meet Hiona one of the happy residents of the Big V vegan animal sanctuary in the Haute Vienne France, read her story and find out how to help

Finn came to us from near the Belgian border, another victim of a relationship break up. Neither could agree who would have the dog so they drove to a carpark and gave him to us. He had to be lifted into our car. There are many forms of neglect, and he had been overfed to the extent that he could not run at all, although he was still a puppy. However, he got into our car boot and he never looked back, he never pined, never waited for his owners. You have our deepest gratitude for choosing to support our sanctuary and helping us to care for our precious residents.…

Hagrid came to the Big V Sanctuary after Miranda volunteered in a Romanian refuge. Conditions there were extremely unpleasant. The eighty dogs in the shelter lived in tiny broken kennels and were fed two handfuls of food once a day. Miranda rescued Hagrid and also Raiph, and Sorrel who has now been rehomed. You have our deepest gratitude for choosing to support our sanctuary and helping us to care for our precious residents. Thank you for being one of ‘the best people’!

Azra is one of our many rescued dogs. She was a police dog in Serbia who, after seven years of service, was thrown onto the streets to fend for herself. She was taken in by two subsequent ‘owners’ only to be thrown out on the streets again. Life on the streets and abuse resulted in a number of injuries including dislodged teeth and problems with her mouth for which she has received treatment. She likes to take life easy these days and quietly accepts the attention of Blake, our young rescued pigeon. Azra has recently had major surgery and is recovering at Big V, under the watchful eye of Wynnie…