Starfish started many years ago now – Easter April 2011 to be precise.

Before Starfish Dog Rescue, the founder was involved for many years with a larger organisation and then in helping smaller ones in the form of fostering/rehoming, photographer etc.  It was something that was organically growing for many years without really realising it as she gained more experience, more like minded people.

In April 2011 while in Spain she visited a small rescue there full of over 50 of the most beautiful dogs, some of which had no hope of ever finding homes. The rescue was run by a group of lovely individuals who were feeling very overwhelmed.  She agreed to help two of them and go from there, and that was how the Starfish name was born. Its values and philosophy encapsulated in the lovely poem. To this day we use it as our ethos – you cannot help them all but these one you do – “it makes a difference that one”.

To run a rescue properly the dogs need veterinary care, proper assessment, treatment for behavioural issues, careful matching to the right owners, and back up for life. – To do this properly seems very overwhelming, but seeing the forgotten souls in Spain helped make her brave, and Starfish has slowly grown since that day, collecting along the way a team of like minded people who work together for the greater good of the dogs in their care.

To this day our founder assists the rescue in Spain where it all started, helping with photographing, assessments, spreading the word with the local people in Spain. Sadly, because of the current situation in UK where we, along with other rescues, are completely overwhelmed with the number of dogs that need help, we are unable to justify bringing dogs over from another country.

Our Vet’s, SPA, are an invaluable part of the wheel for Starfish – without them we think it would be impossible to do what we do, and their help, support and love for our dogs is part of the magic of our rescue.

We do not help dogs in big numbers as we are a small team, but for  the dogs we do help nothing is compromised from their health care to the end result, their forever home – so please do not be offended if we do not feel you are a match. Starfish is always about the dogs and they will always be our priority.

We provide ongoing support for the lifetime of the dog. We know things change and issues may crop up, and we want to ensure our adopters always feel supported. If there are ever issues we cannot resolve, or changes in circumstance which cannot be overcome, we offer full rescue backup for the lifetime of our dogs – this means they will always be rehomed by us after all avenues are explored.