AN ANIMAL Sanctuary in Cwmbran estimates it is losing £10,000 a month during the coronavirus outbreak, and fears for the future of its services.

Trustee Kate Carlyle explained the extent to which All Creatures Great And Small has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

“We have four charity shops, all of which had to close,” she said. “But we are still liable for all of the overheads.

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“We’ve been told by Torfaen and Newport councils that we are not eligible for funding for the money we have lost from the shops being closed, as we get rate relief as we are a charity.

“As well as that, we have not been able to put on any of our events, or have the sanctuary open for visitors.

“People who rehome our animals usually make a donation to us as well, but we have had to stop rehoming for now. When we rehome an animal, we do house visits to make sure they are in the best home for them – which we can’t do now.

“All our main sources of income were just gone overnight.

“We estimate that we are losing over £10,000 per month.

“With our running costs being so high, we are concerned for the future of the sanctuary and its purpose, which is to help animals in need.

“It’s not just dogs and cats here, we have alpacas, horses, and pigs here too.

“Everyone is understandably focusing on the NHS at the moment, but we need to remember the work of other charities too.

“Our supporters have been wonderful in helping us raise much needed funds.”

All of the Sanctuary’s charity shop staff have been furloughed, but at the sanctuary a core group of staff and volunteers has been kept on, although it has been reduced due to social distancing regulations.

“Their commitment has been fantastic,” said Mrs Carlyle. “Their day to day is probably not that different – with cleaning, feeding and looking after the animals - it’s just a bit more difficult with less people.

“We are trying to make sure we are prepared, so when the restrictions are lifted, we can rehome the animals as soon as possible.

“That means we’ve had to switch our focus to speaking to people about adoption over social media and email.

“The animals themselves continue to make us smile through this difficult time and they are looking forward to meeting some new visitors when we are able to re-open our gates.

“If people would like to donate to us, please visit our website: allcreaturesgreatandsmall.org.uk”