Our Mission
Changing the lives of abandoned dogs
one dog at a time
K9 Rescue charity run a no-kill, kennel-free sanctuary, rehabilitating traumatized dogs to prepare them for adoption within travelling distance of our base in West Wales.
Beyond our base, much of our work is focused on Eastern Europe and Ukraine, where the stray animal crisis is at its worst. Here, we partner with grassroots rescuers and shelters – often run by young people juggling multiple jobs just to feed the animals in their care. Through these partnerships, we provide food, veterinary aid, spay/neuter support, emergency care, and practical guidance on rescue and rehoming.
Our mission is not just about saving individual animals but about creating long-term change. That means reducing stray populations humanely through sterilisation, advocating for higher animal welfare standards, and supporting biosecurity in shelters to stop the spread of disease. It also means strengthening communities, where caring for animals fosters empathy, resilience, and a healthier environment for everyone.
Since 2022, the war in Ukraine has transformed our work. We’ve expanded into emergency aid – delivering food, medicine, veterinary supplies from our suppliers in Kyiv and Odesa, and even evacuating animals from the conflict zone. Our feeding programs in frontline cities, now provide lifelines to countless abandoned cats and dogs struggling to survive.
Looking ahead, our focus is on large-scale sterilisation programs. With most government spay/neuter schemes in Ukraine suspended due to war, both stray and owned animals are breeding unchecked. The result is an explosion of abandoned cats and dogs, creating a crisis of unimaginable proportions – one that threatens animal welfare, public health, and community stability.
With your support, we can tackle this crisis at its root. Together, we can prevent the cycle of suffering before it begins and build a sustainable future for the forgotten animals of Eastern Europe and Ukraine.
The forgotten dogs of Eastern Europe
The World Health Organization estimates over 200 million stray dogs worldwide, with 50 million in Central and Eastern Europe alone.
For these forgotten dogs, life is brutal – seen as vermin, with little or no legal protection. They face poisoning, beatings, starvation, disease, freezing winters, traffic accidents, and for those who survive, deep psychological trauma.
Animal Welfare
In many countries with street dog populations, governments issue extermination licences to vigilante hunters to cull the dogs, paid per dog killed, with the method of culling left to the choice of the individual. Our partners have found dogs poisoned, starved, hung, shot, axed, stabbed, beaten, burned, mutilated, or left to die slow, agonising deaths.
This cruel and ineffective method of inhumane population control divides communities – animal lovers live in horror while others want the streets cleared at any cost. Studies show that children and young people exposed to such brutality lose their compassion and empathy for others; becoming detached, often developing mental health issues that impact society.
NGOs like K9 Rescue promote humane population control solutions, protecting dogs’ welfare while creating healthier, more sustainable communities.
LATEST NEWS FROM OUR JOURNAL
See the latest news of our initiatives working with local communities in Eastern Europe and Ukraine with your support that promote environmental sustainability for lasting change. See the impact of your donations – together we make all the difference.
Nelson: The Little Dog Thrown Away
Rescued from a lifetime of abuse Nelson weighs just 7 kilograms - the size of a small house dog who should have been curled up safely on someone’s sofa. Instead,
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Preventing Suffering Before it Begins
182 Dogs Spayed in Frontline Kramatorsk - thanks to the
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Help Ukraine’s Strays Survive -25°C Cold
Keep a Stray’s Heart Beating in -25°C Valentine’s Day is
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Feisty Feral: Matilda’s Second Chance
Feral Flight: Wild dog Matilda evaded capture for days despite running with
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Another 289 Dogs Spayed in Just 5 Days!
Holding the Line for Animals in Izmail In another extraordinary
Our Current Campaigns
We run projects with local communities in Eastern Europe and Ukraine that promote sustainable development for lasting change. Our projects range from spay/neuter programs, as well as advocating for improved animal welfare promoting bio-security in animal shelters to eradicate disease and supporting rescuers and grass roots animal shelters assisting with food, medical aid and emergency care, as well as advice and support on the rescue, care and rehoming of abandoned animals.
These projects are created with the input of the local communities, often coming to us asking for assistance to improve the welfare of the stray populations in their community as well as the community’s own environmental health.
Our Dogs for Adoption
K9 Rescue charity run a no-kill, kennel-free sanctuary, rehabilitating abused street dogs originally from Eastern Europe for adoption in West Wales – these are some of our dogs ready for their forever families.
There are many other wonderful semi-feral dogs that are nearing the end of their rehabilitation at our sanctuary that could be fostered by families willing to put the time in to help them take the next step towards integration into family life.