About Us

About Us

Animal Welfare (Furness) was founded in 1985 by a group of local ladies. In 1987 we became a registered charity and are now well-established in the local area. We protect and provide sanctuary for unwanted and distressed cats and dogs until loving new homes can be found, with the aim of never giving up on a healthy animal. 

Our first shop was situated on Church Street in Barrow, after which we moved to our current Cattery premises, which is located on Rawlinson Street. We also have two busy charity shops, one located on Dalton Road in Barrow and other on Upper Brook Street in Ulverston. Most of our activities support local cats and dogs in need; however, we do what we can for all small domestic and wild animals.
We are entirely self-funded and receive no aid from the government. We raise money through fundraising events and via our charity and eBay shops, and from the generosity of local businesses and kind donations and legacies from the general public.

Animal Welfare (Furness) works with and is supported by The Furness Veterinary Centre in Dalton and we have an excellent working relationship with them. We also work with a local dog behaviourist who helps us rehabilitate and retrain some of our more challenging dogs.

 Microchipping Service

We are pleased to be able to offer a microchipping service! Please contact our Barrow shop or cattery or our Ulverston shop for further details.

Supporting our community

We are happy to provide placements to students who are working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Award and to people on various unemployment schemes, as well as offering work experience to trainee veterinary nurses via Kendal College. We also work alongside Cumbria Voluntary Service and Beaumont College Barrow.

We have good relationships with several of our local supermarkets who kindly provide in-store food collection bins and we work with the local dog pound, dog wardens and police and several other animal rescue centres in and outside of Cumbria.

Volunteering

Animal Welfare (Furness) has a very small staff and the team rely heavily on our volunteers who help in our shops and cattery and without whom we would be unable to keep going! If you would like to find out more, please see our volunteering page.
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