Charity shop to give animals a second chance

SECOND Chance Animal Rescue, a voluntary group based in Shannon, has opened a charity shop in Shannon Town Centre.
The premises were officially opened by Labour party TD for Clare, Michael McNamara last Friday.
The store is being managed by Tracey Fitzgerald Gale and she said it has been very well received in its first week. “We’ve been very lucky in that the community are really getting behind us. We’re selling books, bric-a-brac, CDs, toys, clothes, all sorts of things. We take stuff that’s good quality; things that we can resell. We’re looking for a second-hand till and a slat wall and slat arms if anyone can help.”
She outlined the work the group undertakes. “It was set up four years ago by Frances Murphy, a lady based in Inis Síoda. The aim of it is to provide support, education and help for the health and welfare of companion animals. We also do a lot of work with horses and donkeys. We always need help with fundraising and fostering.
“Frances keeps the cats in a purpose-built cattery in her own home. There are volunteers that take in animals in their own homes. Some people have space for horses and others keep dogs. We never put a healthy animal down and never turn an animal away. Everyone involved in it volunteer their time for free. We all love animals and everything we take at the shop goes directly to the care of the animals. There’s a lot of veterinary treatment involved, pet food, vaccinations, neutering, everything like that.”
Tracey said SCAR is very cautious about where animals go. “We vaccinate every animal we re-home. In exceptional circumstances we will pay for neutering. It’s extremely important but we hope that the people who do take the animals will pay for that themselves.
“We’re very careful in our rehoming. A home check is done before an animal is rehomed and another check is done after three weeks to make sure everything is okay and everybody is happy. At that point the animal is officially rehomed. We have to bear in mind that the animals we’re rehoming have been abandoned or neglected already, they don’t need it a second or third time.”
She said all the money raised in the shop goes on the animals. “We pay vets bills but no one involved is paid and every cent we get goes to the animals,” she concluded.