About Forever Hounds Trust
We envision a day when every greyhound and lurcher is safe and loved. Until then, we rescue, rehabilitate and rehome sighthounds across the UK, providing expert care and lifelong support to ensure their forever homes are truly forever.
What we do
At Forever Hounds Trust, we rescue unwanted, abused or abandoned greyhounds, lurchers and other sighthounds from across the UK. We care for them in line with best practice, creating individual rehabilitation plans for each dog; meanwhile, we find loving permanent homes for them, carefully matching them to suitable new families.
Our work includes:
- Rescue and intake: We take in dogs from the racing industry, private homes, dog wardens, other rescues and pounds. We accept dogs regardless of their physical or psychological condition. More about rehoming a hound.
- Rehabilitation: Every dog receives thorough assessment and an individual care plan. We provide veterinary treatment, behavioural support, and the time they need to recover from their past experiences. This happens at our centre or when possible, the hound is placed with a temporary foster carer.
- Rehoming: We carefully match each dog to the right home through our detailed assessing and homing process. We have very few blanket rules because we focus on finding the right fit for each individual dog. Find out more about adopting a hound.
- Lifelong support: We provide free post-homing behavioural support for the life of every dog adopted from us. If circumstances change and an adopter can no longer keep their dog, we commit to taking them back into our care. Find support and advice on this page.
- Advocacy: We work to improve sighthound welfare by highlighting the plight of greyhounds and lurchers, recording and reporting mistreatment, and showing our support for the phasing out of greyhound racing in the UK and worldwide. See upcoming events.
Our story
Forever Hounds Trust has been a registered charity since 1996, originally known as Greyhound Rescue West of England.
Our founder, Angela Yardley, started helping greyhounds in the 1980s after meeting her first greyhound, Merlin. What began with home checks and late-night phone calls grew into a charity that has helped thousands of dogs over nearly three decades.
Stand against greyhound racing
We see first-hand the emotional and physical scars the greyhound racing industry leaves on the dogs it discards, and that is why we call for a phasing out of greyhound racing in the UK and worldwide.
We continue to work with trainers and take dogs from all areas of the racing industry, because our priority will always be to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome the dogs that need us.
Beyond rescue, we are committed to being a visible and vocal presence in the campaign for change, working alongside other organisations to support the phasing out of greyhound racing and advocate for improved sighthound welfare.
Our team, board, and volunteers
Forever Hounds Trust is run by Caron Lane, our CEO who oversees day-to-day operations and works closely with our Board of Trustees on strategic planning.
Behind the scenes, we have an amazing team of approximately 130 volunteers across the country. Some are based at our Centre in Devon, while others support remotely with tasks like organising events, administration, post-homing behavioural support, crafting, and online fundraising.
We often portray an organisation bigger than we actually are. That is testament to the passion, dedication and professionalism of our small but committed team.
Our Centre
Our Centre is staffed by a team of six people who care for the dogs, manage assessments and rehabilitation, coordinate volunteers, and handle matching and homing. Supporting them are five part-time remote staff who manage everything from fundraising and communications to finance, volunteer coordination and IT.
We recently sold our Centre in Cullompton and are actively searching for new premises that will better meet our needs and offer greater potential for future development.
We now operate from temporary kennels at Margaret Green Animal Rescue in Dorset, where we rent eight kennel spaces for dogs awaiting adoption. During this transition, we are expanding our fostering and home-from-home placement scheme to help as many greyhounds and lurchers as possible.
Our vision
Today, we maintain our reputation for high standards of care and rehabilitation.
Our 5-year strategy focuses on recovery, stability and visibility:
- Recovery means giving every hound the time and patience they need to heal and adapt
- Stability: our match-making process ensures dogs only get placed with suitable forever homes
- Visibility: our team and volunteers work hard to spread the word and introduce more people in the UK to our organisation.
Be part of the greyhounds' story
Every greyhound and lurcher in our care depends on the generosity and dedication of our supporters. Whether you adopt, volunteer, donate or simply spread the word, you become part of their journey from rescue to forever home.
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