07/09/2026
๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐จ
Sadly, we recently had a fire in one of the main buildings at Leitrim Animal Welfare, a building that serves several essential purposes at our centre, housing our office, veterinary room and cattery all under one roof. ๐พ
Thankfully, the fire was brought under control very quickly and things could have been so much worse. โค๏ธโ๐ฉน
However, the damage that has been left behind means the cabin is no longer safe to use. After looking at our options, the cost of repairing the existing building simply wouldnโt represent good value. The safer and more financially sensible option is to remove it and replace it with a new building.
๐ But this wasnโt just an office.
Under one roof, this building contained our:
๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ - where calls, enquiries, animal records and the day to day administration of our centre are managed.
๐ฉบ ๐ฉ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ- an essential dedicated space for the veterinary care and treatment of animals at our centre.
๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ - our safe indoor accommodation for cats and kittens coming into our care.
In one incident, we have effectively lost three essential spaces.
And replacing them was certainly not an expense we had budgeted for.
๐ฑ Losing our cattery has been particularly difficult.
Every day we receive calls from people looking for help, cats needing to be surrendered, strays, unwanted litters, kittens and cats whose circumstances have suddenly changed.
Right now, we simply donโt have a safe cattery in which to house them.
We know how upsetting it can be when someone desperately needs help and we have to explain that we cannot take their cat. Unfortunately, we have had some people become frustrated with our staff when weโve had to say no.
We arenโt refusing because we donโt want to help.
We physically donโt have a safe cattery to put another cat into. ๐
At the same time, so many people have been incredibly patient, kind and understanding when weโve explained what has happened. To every single person who has shown our team that understanding, thank you. It means more than you know. โค๏ธ
๐ Now, we need to rebuild.
The cost of a replacement building is significant and unplanned. Weโve already had to look at our finances and rearrange funding that had been intended for other areas of our work.
But ultimately, we need our building back.
We need our office back.
We need our veterinary room back.
And desperately, we need our cattery back. ๐ฑโค๏ธ
So weโre asking our wonderful community to help us rebuild.
Every โฌ5, โฌ10, โฌ20 or โฌ50 donated gets us one step closer to replacing what weโve lost and reopening these essential facilities.
๐พ ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ด๐ผ๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ:
๐ฅ Remove the damaged and unsafe building
๐ Replace it with a safe new cabin
๐ Restore our office
๐ฉบ Restore our veterinary room
๐ฑ Reopen our cattery and start helping cats again
We donโt need anything extravagant.
We just need a safe, practical building that allows us to get back to doing what weโre here to do efficiently, helping animals.
This is a setback we never expected, and an expense we certainly didnโt plan for.
๐ Please donate and share if you can.
Every euro and every share genuinely matters.
Thank you, as always, for standing behind Leitrim Animal Welfare and the animals who depend on us. ๐พโค๏ธ
Sadly, we recently had a fire in one of the main buildings at Leitrim Animal Welfarโฆ Megan Gaffney needs your support for Help Us Replace Part Of Our Centre
