2024 World Animal Day grant awarded to two outstanding charity projects!
As always, we are delighted to share with you the latest World Animal Day grant winners! This year, we have chosen to split the grant between two deserving organisations – Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary, in Barbados, and the Sudanese Animal Care and Environmental Protection Organisation, in Sudan.
It was a very tough call to decide upon just two organisations, when we once again received so many strong applications, but we believe that these winners will deliver some strong welfare projects
The 2024 World Animal Day grant was worth £10,000, an increase that we made last year to support animal welfare projects on a greater level amidst global cost increases and we are looking forward to seeing this money be put to use!
Main grant
This year’s main winner is Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary, dedicated to rescuing and rehoming abused and abandoned dogs and cats in Barbados.
The organisation also strives to understand and address what is causing the animal neglect and abuse that they see regularly, running children’s clubs and community outreach programmes that aim to help people understand and care for their animals better.
Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary have submitted an ambitious and exciting proposal that encompasses all areas of their work that they think will improve animal welfare directly within, Messiah Street, St. John, an area that currently has very high areas of animal neglect and abuse. Sadly, the animals there are often skeletal, injured and suffering from high parasite infections. Ocean Acres would like to deliver care to those animals, whilst also instilling compassion in people within the community so that the cycles of neglect and abuse do not continue.
There is a very high number of strays within the area too that the organisation would like to help and address.
We have awarded them with £8718, which will be split between:
- Reducing the stray population through running monthly spay and neuter sessions.
- Providing rescue and rehabilitation services to animals who need it, ensuring that the animals receive the care they need right up until they are adopted.
- Running community workshops and educational sessions on understanding animals and providing care.
Ocean Acres hopes that the carefully planned format of this project will be something that can be rolled out to other low-welfare areas too, meaning that the World Animal Day grant will be covering a project that may have an even wider-reaching positive impact!
We look forward to hearing about the animals that the help and the educational projects that they deliver!
Mini-grant
We have also awarded a mini-grant, of £1,500 to the Sudanese Animal Care and Environmental Protection Organisation, who hope to use the winnings for a vaccination and education project in Sudan.
Sadly, as is often the case during wars and conflict globally, animal welfare has suffered due to the civil war in Sudan. Our World Animal Day ambassador, Mustafa, reports that the condition of most animals has worsened due to many veterinary centres being closed in warzones and those with animals being forced to flee to the North Kordofan state, which has increased pressure on the animal care services there.
The project aims to vaccinate donkeys, horses and dogs who have been removed from warzones and who have not had access to this preventative care. The organisation would also like to educate animal carers and empower them to be able to provide the best care possible, so that with some guidance, they may be able to form an animal welfare committee and provide support to others with animals.
Watch out for updates on our World Animal Day grant winners!
We are so grateful to have the support of our World Animal Day ambassadors, and it is wonderful to be able to offer the World Animal Day grant to enable their vital animal welfare projects.
We cannot wait to share the progress of this important work that is about to be done in Barbados and Sudan!
The grant is provided and administered by Naturewatch Foundation, a UK-based animal welfare charity and the coordinators of World Animal Day.