The success story of one of our long-term residents has inspired an exciting new initiative which aims to ease the transition from kennels to forever home for dogs whose adoption journeys can be more difficult.

Staffordshire bull terrier, April, spent a few years with us at the Sanctuary before her luck changed in October 2020, when Laura and Gary decided to give her a chance in their loving home. As part of her re-homing journey, April and her new owners subsequently benefited from the expertise of a dog behaviourist, helping her adjust from kennel to home life.

Sadly, April was diagnosed with cancer at the start of 2022 and passed over to Rainbow Bridge in April 2023. With the diagnosis in mind and the restricted time in her loving home that would not make up for all those days in rescue, Laura decided she wanted to help other dogs in similar positions. So, during this difficult time, Laura set up a birthday fundraiser to help dogs in their rehoming journeys. She realised there were many more who, like April, could benefit from the input of a behaviourist to help them find and keep their forever homes and that their time was also limited.

The birthday money raised was subsequently used to fund one-to-one behaviourist training for two lovely dogs, Bozo and Sammy, resulting in a lasting legacy to our long-term girl in what is now known as Aprils Wish.

As we think about April and her journey from Mid Antrim Animal Sanctuary to her loving home we will continue to hold a place in our hearts for this special girl. And, with your help, she will continue to assist other dogs through April's Wish both now and into the future.

If you also believe that all our dogs should have the chance to benefit from one-to-one expert behaviourist training to help them fulfil their wish of a forever home, then please donate to Aprils Wish.

If you'd like to be part of this journey, it couldn't be easier, and you can rest assured that all income raised through this initiative will be allocated to support our more difficult to home dogs. Their new adopters will be given an outline of practical actions which they can use to assist their new best friends transition into their forever homes, with the aim of making this as stress-free as possible for everyone.

This is what we all work and wish for that all our dogs find their forever homes and remain there indefinitely and we know our supporters wish for the same.

Aprils Wish will help us to achieve this goal.

While April passed over the Rainbow Bridge in April 2023, her legacy lives on!