It all started with my rescue dog, Nora, who came to me from a North Macedonian rescue organisation that I found on Facebook.

As a student, living in a rented flat in London with no outside space, I desperately wanted a dog. I knew I would do a great job - I had grown up with dogs, cats, chickens, and horses - and I knew that I wanted to rescue a dog. For two years, I applied for dogs through Battersea and Dog’s Trust, and found it incredibly frustrating how hard it was to rescue a dog in the UK, and noted the fundamental issue at hand: there are far more people wanting to rescue than there are rescue dogs in the UK, and abroad there are far more rescue dogs than there are people wanting to rescue them.

Skip forward 5 years, I am still living in London, and have had my rescue dog Nora (or rather, she has had her rescue human) for 3 years. At the local dog park, chatting to other dog owners about my funny mixed breed dog, I noticed a pattern emerging. When I mentioned that Nora was a rescue, many people would tell me “oh, I also wanted a rescue dog, but I didn't know where to look, so I just bought a breed dog.” So I decided I would change that, and create a one-stop shop for all things dog rescue in the UK (though much of this will apply to Europe too!).