A much-loved animal shelter will be forced to close after losing a battle against an eviction notice.
The Pennine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, was given a warning to leave its site last year.
Terrified of losing the perfect space, shelter staff initially objected to the notice.
After their efforts failed, they started a fundraiser to overturn the decision.
Time is now running out before their July 31st closing deadline and they fear they will close their doors for good.
Susan Curran, the founder of PAWS, lives on site in a static caravan with her rescue dog Big George.
She told Metro.co.uk: “I’m still completely numb after receiving the original Section 25 notice.
“The months have gone by and we are no closer to finding a suitable location to move to, set up the kennels and food and then there is the worry of where to house the animals we cannot rehome in the meantime.
“I am incredibly scared for the future of the charity.”
Big George is just one of the animals at risk of a horrific future if the charity is forced to close.
He was rescued from the pound by Sue and took six years to rehabilitate.
Now a last ditch effort has been launched to buy a site for PAWS to continue their work.
Michele Way, chairman of the charity’s trustees, said: “The trustees will do their best to ensure the charity continues to help local people and their animals, in whatever form that may take.
“Ideally, we would like to buy somewhere and then we will have secured the future of the rescue.
“We are desperate for options and will have to close our doors to taking on new animals to allow us to pack the space.
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“It’s devastating that after all the hard work everyone has put into trying to raise the money we need to buy somewhere decent we can’t find a solution.
“There must be someone out there who can help us?”
PAWS was founded in 2007 by Sue who wanted to create a rescue where anyone could adopt an animal regardless of where they lived, their age or their circumstances.
The charity focuses on animals “that might otherwise be surrendered” and worries who will take up that baton in the area if they close.
Susan added: “We currently have 16 cats and 12 dogs, all of whom face a horrendous future if we fail to secure a new home.
“These cats and dogs have already been abandoned once. We are proud to come together with our community to help them in their time of need, now we really need your help.”
The charity is ideally looking for three to five acres of land located within a 15-20 mile radius of Todmorden so they can continue to support their community.
It needs to have buildings or a building footprint so it can build bigger and better facilities for the hundreds of animals it rescues every year.
Previously, the shelter had raised fears about the prospect of destroying the animals if they could not be rehomed.
PAWS also acts as a shelter for young people and adults who volunteer to help care for the animals – and Sue hoped to expand the program to give more opportunities to both people and animals.
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