Eden Animal Rescue staff have thanked volunteers and members of the public for their “amazing generosity” after the centre — at Newbiggin, near Temple Sowerby — was flooded on Sunday during torrential rain.
The heavens opened at around 5pm and left the site under five inches of water — including in the dog kennels. Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service attended and pumped out the water, which very nearly entered the homes of two staff members, who live on site, and the office.
Chris Cheetham, chairman of trustees, said: “I would like to say a big thank you and well done on behalf of the trustees of Eden Animal Rescue to all the staff, volunteers and particularly the fire and rescue service for all their efforts on Sunday evening when a flash flood inundated our site and particularly the kennels.
“I would also like to express our gratitude to all the people who turned up on Monday to help with the large job of tidying up and cleaning the site. It is not the most pleasant of tasks but your hard work made it all safe, clean and secure.
“Finally, can I also say that the generosity of people across the area who gave us blankets, towels, dog food and money was really humbling. Eden Animal Rescue had a close shave on Sunday night and we are grateful for all your support.”
An appeal went out for dog beds, blankets and towels, and general manager Sarah Bean said this week: “We are fine for dog beds now — people’s generosity has been amazing and we are extremely grateful. We still need towels and blankets though — that is ongoing.”
Sarah explained what happened at about 5pm on Sunday: “The rain was torrential. I live on site, as does Vicki, our animal care manager, and we came out just in time. Vicki had been working all day on Sunday along with three other staff members who called me out of the house as it was my day off, just in time for us to see that the water was rising quickly towards the properties and the office. But thanks go to the fire service — they got there just in time. The water was a minute off going inside — it was very scary.
“Flooding hasn’t happened here before; we are putting it down to the sheer volume of water and the drainage.”
The centre currently houses 50 cats and kittens and 18 dogs. The water did not get into the cattery, but it did flood the kennels, leaving the dogs standing in five inches of water.
“We didn’t have enough people on site to take the dogs out of the kennels, and it was raining anyway, so they were stood in the water, but they were fine.
“Once the fire service were here and pumped off all the water, our staff went into cleaning mode and got the dogs all dry and sorted.”
Sarah also thanked the volunteers who got to the centre, as the nearby roads were under water.
Work is soon to start on new kennels at the centre, and the groundworks which need to be completed first are now more urgent and a bigger job.
“We are also in need of any financial donations that people can spare to help us to be able to get this project done,” said Sarah. “It will be a huge task covering the whole of the site. The flooding has made it more essential to get it done and more work will be needed.”
Any donations can be left at the Eden Animal Rescue shop in Devonshire Street or at drop-off points at Pets at Home, WCF and the Arcade Pet Shop in Penrith
“I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has already donated,” including the Arcade Pet Shop and John Norris,” said Sarah.
