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Maesteg Animal Welfare Society

4 Church Street Maesteg

CF34 9AD

 

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If you have any queries or wish to make an appointment, please contact us by phone or use our contact form.

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About us, and why


In 1985, 3 auxiliary members of the RSPCA became disillusioned with the society that they had been working so hard to support.  All 3 lived in Maesteg but had seen little or no improvement in animal welfare at local level.

The ‘3’ Maureen Edwards, Councillor Danny Davies and the late Councillor Jennie Gibbs discussed all the red tape involved with the society and decided they could do better.

MAWS was born!

 

The fund that they decided to set up for local animal welfare was to enable money to be allocated where the need was greatest. Many nights trudging around pubs and clubs collecting money began, raffles and jumble sales were organised and there was an excellent response from the community.
 

Other people offered their help and support. The late Dafydd Davies who became the society’s secretary, had heard of the plight of stray dogs taken to a local kennel. The group visited the kennel where they found the stalls numbered 1 to 7.  The dogs and pups were allocated a new kennel daily according to the number of days they had been there.  After kennel no 7, if not claimed the dogs/pups were put down.
 

A meeting was immediately called to discuss future strategy for saving these dogs and organising a rehoming scheme.  MAWS also obtained charitable status that put its activities on an official footing.

 

The society used Glyn Y Glowr Kennels in Llangeinor(now retired) where the dogs were happy.  Mike Standing was extremely co-operative in helping to rehome the dogs. Up to 12 strays at a time could be taken in.


The society’s next move was to help with the number of stray cats in the area and also finding homes for unwanted litters. Volunteers helped to foster these animals in their homes. The next step forward was to house all the cats/kittens in one place where they could be visited and rehomed. Jan Brady looks after the mother cats and kittens.


We have so many cats and kittens to deal with that we have now opened another cattery where adult cats are looked after by Nicola. On average we home about 300 cats and kittens per year. Cats are neutered, micro chipped and vaccinated before being rehomed.

 

The society’s other main development is to help people on low income with veterinary fees, because the PDSA excludes the valleys. We also have a policy of helping to pay towards the cost of neutering animals, thus trying to reduce the number of unwanted litters. However this takes a considerable drain on our resources.

 

We run fund raising events as much as possible, but a lot of our income comes from our charity shop run entirely by volunteers. We have a shop located in Maesteg. We rely heavily on donations. Keeping the animals at the cattery and veterinary fees etc. cost money. None of this work could be carried out without a substantial income.

 

All our work is done via volunteers, we cover the cost of animals in our care, but time is given voluntarily, so all donations go straight to the animals. No one person is paid for their services. We are always at the end of a phone 24/7 (emergencies) unlike many of the larger organisations. We try to give a personal service, when sometimes all people need is a person to give advice, we will always try to accommodate if possible.


In 2010/11 our Silver Jubilee Year we secured the purchase of our charity shop in Maesteg, securing the safety of MAWS.

 

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