Behind the scenes with Beneath The Wood animal sanctuary
Animal sanctuaries are the real frontline of veganism, but each is also a business that needs constant income. As with any ethical business, you can do far more good when you make money than when you don’t.
Sasha Bennett from Beneath The Wood Sanctuary shares her experiences of running a sanctuary and what tips she has for anyone thinking of starting their own.
Beneath The Wood Animal Sanctuary has had some very high profile campaigns, including the ex-racing pigs and the Pembrokeshire 53 who were saved from a government destruction order. It can be tough to survive as an animal sanctuary, but by pooling their skillsets and leading with the vegan message, Sasha and John are proving that if you want to successfully run an animal sanctuary then you need to treat it as a business as well as a labour of passion.
We spoke with Sasha Bennett to talk about their experiences and what tips she has for anyone thinking of starting an animal sanctuary.
How did you first start running an animal sanctuary? Was it something you consciously set out to do?
I worked at my partner’s dog behaviour sanctuary for many years, where I learned how to handle dangerous dogs. I then had the opportunity to move to a smallholding in West Wales with my mum. I initially continued just to take dogs with serious behaviour problems but with having land it was only a matter of time until farmed animals started arriving. I didn’t consciously decide to do it.
That being said, I was always going to be involved with running a sanctuary or rescue, especially with dogs because I know I can take dogs that others won’t handle. So, it was a natural and organic progression to start my own organisation.
Then a few years ago John Awen joined, initially as a Patron and then later becoming a joint director of the sanctuary. We have very different roles, mine is the physical running of the sanctuary and John (who lives off-site) does our promoting and awareness.
Tell us a little bit about your residents, and how the majority have found their way to your sanctuary?
The dogs have come to us through other rescues or vets; they are the ones that are not safe or would be difficult to place due to behaviour. The other animals have generally come to us through farmers in the local community or via cruelty cases involving the authorities. We generally take the more difficult rescues – the rough end of rescue if you like! Most new residents want to kick or bite me initially, apart from the sheep! The sheep are just placid and friendly.
Running a sanctuary is obviously physically demanding, but what business skills have you had to learn (or bring in) to help you?
Well, I’m not the most techy person but I’ve had to learn how to do things. So really that’s just been teaching myself with the help of Google. Using social media is also one of the things I’ve had to get used to doing, as this is of course the best way to connect with people. We have help with our accounts and we’ve bought in solicitors to help us save animals that are caught in legal situations that jeopardise their lives.
Taking care of so many animals must come with a large financial commitment. What percentage of your time do you have to apply to raising funds?
Nowhere near enough time is spent on this at the moment, as we need to bring in much more funding. Currently, probably a quarter of my time is to do with raising funds. But we really need a whole full-time fund-raising team! This is hopefully something we could achieve over the next year. We have to raise at least £25,000 to build facilities so we can care for nearly 100 pigs in winter. Plus, just feeding the #53pigs costs us nearly £700 per week! So, we have to increase our fundraising as well look at other business solutions to bring funds in.
With there being so many demands on your time, how do you go about fundraising for and marketing the sanctuary?
Social media is our main form of raising funds and marketing the sanctuary. Funding is also a big part of what John does. He raises awareness through his social media and through his talks and that in turn brings in donations.
Beneath The Wood Sanctuary has had some very high profile campaigns, including the ex-racing pigs and the Pembrokeshire 53 who were saved from a government destruction order. How have these kinds of campaigns helped to raise the profile of the work you do?
They’ve definitely helped people notice us that’s for sure, so that has really helped to increase our profile and extend our reach. The #53pigs project was (and still is) an absolutely massive project and hugely costly in terms of finances and general running costs. We basically tripled the size of the sanctuary’s dependants overnight, since we actually took 85 pigs from this cruelty case. It was an epic rescue especially as we are only a small sanctuary with limited support and funding. We now have around 130 residents.
How much has your own vegan ethics shaped the development and direction of the sanctuary?
Veganism is the driving force of the sanctuary and something that myself and John are hugely passionate about. No matter what we do it always comes back to veganism. Spreading the cruelty-free message is very important and between us we cover all bases.
For me, I find that when people start to connect with the animals that they call food, then a process starts within them and the way they view the world begins to change. We have many future plans to develop our campaigning and to bring awareness of the cruelty involved within non-veganic living.
I self-funded the sanctuary for many years through my own online business. I just did it privately and without a media presence. If I were to do it again, I would become a not-for-profit organisation much sooner because this has definitely been the best way to grow the sanctuary and have a bigger impact on rescuing animals and promoting veganism.
Just do it. If there’s one thing I would like people to do, it’s to turn ideas into reality. Anyone can start an organisation of any kind at any time. Just go with your passion and make it happen. But be prepared to put your heart, soul and much more into it. If you truly want to do something, you’ll find a way to do it.
Lisa Fox says:
Sasha and John have really understood the complexities of an animal sanctuary being a business, and about dividing the public-facing fundraising role with the everyday work of looking after the animals. But they are also very aware of the realities that, although not-for-profit, you need to have a regular income to make any business sustainable.
Learn more about Beneath The Wood Animal Sanctuary at their website: www.beneaththewoodsanctuary.co.uk where you can also make a donation or sponsor a resident (which makes a great birthday present for someone – we have sponsored one of the #53 pigs ourselves!)
