Emma
FOUNDER
Emma is our visionary founder and driving force behind the rescue revolution. She is a rescue wonder woman – running the rescue, overseeing our dogs, new intakes and rehoming, as well as getting the new site up and running. She is determined beyond belief, practical and resourceful, and still likes to be hands on with the dogs. Emma lives in a caravan full of difficult bullies and is the staff member most likely to be found on a digger.
Ali
MARKETING & FUNDRAISING
Ali is responsible for all of our marketing and fundraising and is the creative genius behind our social media. She moved in to get to know our dogs and document rescue life – she never left! Ali is Emma’s right hand woman, driving our brand, our audiences and engagement, as well as financial stability and growth, making the seemingly impossible happen. It’s because of her that we were able to buy the new site. Often to be found with an old staffy or Grumpy Stu in her bed, Ali is always there when the dogs need her.
Amy
OPERATIONS
Amy is our Operations Manager responsible for the smooth and efficient running of our Irlam site. A passionate rescuer, Amy was at Freshfields Rescue for ten years before joining us to manage the team here. As well as working with the dogs she is responsible for people, processes, productivity and standards of care. Calm and level-headed, with a passion for rehoming, Amy has a 14-year-old rescue Yorkshire Terrier called Timmy.
Tess
DOG HANDLER
Tess is one of our most experienced dog handlers and Emma’s go-to woman when it comes to dog groups, movements and testing new friendships. Confident and capable, she has a talent for working with difficult dogs and oversees all of our dogs’ daily routines, happiness, wellbeing and veterinary needs – she also has a talent for training. Tess adopted Lollipop’s bestie Bumblebee from us and is the most likely to give the dogs a treat.
Diana
DOG HANDLER
Diana is our dog handler all the way from Costa Rica. She did her Animal Care apprenticeship here and was so passionate and dedicated we offered her a permanent role. Responsible and reliable, she opens up the rescue most mornings, works with the dogs all day and is fantastic at training people and organising volunteers. She also has a flair for capturing social media content. Diana adopted Rocky from us and fostered Bailey so she could experience a loving home for the last year of her life.
Sophie
DOG HANDLER
Sophie recently joined us as a live-in dog handler, bringing with her a wealth of experience from her time working in various rescues in Thailand, as well as a lot of UK daycare and training expertise. A strong all-rounder, she can turn her hand from moving the packs around in their rotations, to working with our most scared ferals and getting dogs home ready. She has naturally fallen into taking a dog to bed!
Nigel
THERAPIST
Nigel (or Fats as we all know him) is an external therapist from SwanCMC providing counselling support to our team. His approach is non-clinical, non-judgemental and completely confidential. Rescue can be an emotionally draining profession, life can also take you by surprise sometimes and we all need to be the best version of ourselves that we can for the dogs and our team. Nigel also works in the sporting industry with Leeds Rhinos Rugby Team and has a dog called Mabel.
Olivia
DOG HANDLER & CLEANER
Olivia is a dog handler/cleaner with a special interest in grooming. She loves nothing better than bathing the handicans and getting new dogs clean and pampered ready to meet their prospective owners. Olivia enjoys a varied role here including cleaning, washing, expressing the handicans and a multitude of other tasks. Olivia can’t help but take her work home with her, so much so that she adopted Ludo and Luke from us.
Maya
JUNIOR DOG HANDLER
Maya has joined us as a Junior Dog Handler having worked at a doggy daycare. She is capable and passionate, learning on the job and taking on more responsibility as time goes on. She lives in the ferals’ caravan and loves to spend her evenings helping rehabilitate the frightened ones, or helping new owned dogs settle in, with a flair for capturing photos. Maya has a Romanian dog at home called Penny and convinced her mum that two is easier than one.
Sue
LIVE-IN ASSISTANT
Sue recently moved in with her pack of podencos and galgos. A passionate rescuer she has run Hearts 4 Paws Dog Rescue from home many years, saving the dogs of Spain one dog at a time. Sue is joining us as a live-in assistant helping with our morning routine, night time expressions, vet runs and more, reflecting our commitment to rescues working together for the good of the dogs.
Dave
HANDYMAN
Dave is our handyman extraordinaire who can turn his hand to anything and everything – a blessing as no two days are ever the same! He keeps on top of the endless repairs here as well as making Emma’s crazy ideas happen, working in all weathers and always with a smile on his face. He will come in on his days off if we need an urgent repair to keep the dogs safe. Dave coached Manchester City’s women’s team in a former life (but is a passionate red!) and puts up with Bumblebee’s terrible trumps in the van when he’s taking Tess home.
Becky
ADMIN
Becky is Emma’s sister, keeping us all organised and has supported the rescue from the start. She is the backbone of our admin support working remotely from Ecuador with a month at the rescue in Manchester every year. Becky stays on top of all our e-mails and messages, knows what to prioritise for Emma’s attention and is a fantastic matchmaker. If you have fostered or rehomed a dog from us you will have spoken to her on an e-mail. Becky has a street dog in Ecuador called Frankie who is the doppelganger of Grumpy Stu.
Laura
LOGISTICS
Laura volunteers part-time helping with the movements of dogs from the UK and abroad and some admin. An ex-military logistics expert who can deal with anything thrown at her, Laura is superb at desk research and is a hive of knowledge and information, with an eye for detail like no other. She helps answer our Facebook messages on a daily basis, often helping people find alternative rescue space if we cannot help. Laura has a passion for the naughty Jack Russell Terriers.
Wendy
ACCOUNTS & MORE
Wendy volunteers part-time preparing our day-to-day accounts for both the rescue and Daycare 4 Dogs, and so much more besides. A qualified accountant with an incredible attention to detail and love of numbers, she is the spreadsheet queen who provides us with all of our management information. She has been instrumental in getting the new site and pushing through so many other behind-the-scenes achievements. Wendy adopted Lucky from us as a companion for Poppy and has even been known to post large volumes of D4R calendars.
Tim
ACCOUNTANT & BUSINESS ADVISOR
Tim is our chartered accountant and business advisor. He signs off all of our returns and financial statements as well as advising us on tax and business strategies. He uses his extensive experience working with small to medium sized businesses, his time inhouse with multinational businesses and at KPMG to help us make the most of our financial information whilst staying compliant. Tim agreed that two is easier than one and adopted Woolfie and Berry from us.
Our volunteers
We have a small number of regular volunteers who walk our dogs and help with enrichment time, cleaning, DIY and gardening. Our Enrichment Angels enhance the days of our lifers and help with the rehabilitation of the ferals. We also have staffy cuddlers for our fusspots and handican carers for our disabled boys as well as volunteers who help with fundraising and bucket collections.
