Many Tears Animal Rescue

Sylvia & Bill VanAtta welcome you to
Many Tears Animal Rescue website



Many Tears Animal Rescue (MTAR) is a small rescue based in South Wales but has dogs in foster homes throughout the UK. We take in and rehome primarily ex-breeding dogs who are no longer required; those on "death row" in the pounds and those whose owners are no longer able to keep them.  MTAR also has a small cattery which enables us to take a small number of cats.

With the help of our staff and volunteers we provide a special and loving environment to help all our animals adapt and find permanent, loving new homes.

All our dogs and cats are spayed/neutered, micro chipped, inoculated, and wormed and our dogs are also kennel cough vaccinated.

All potential adopters are interviewed and homes vetted.

Many Tears is a home based rescue.  Basically that means  Sylvia and I run this rescue from our house and the rescue operates off our property. 
In addition to owning the land and running the rescue, we also operate a boarding business from this same property.    The boarding business is how I put our dinner on the table at night.    So now we have us, a business, and the rescue,  all sharing our house and this property.   
 For us it works, we all help each other out.   If the rescue staff is behind,  I will have my boarding staff help walk their dogs. The rescue dog dishes are cleaned inside  my laundry / utility kitchen.  If the rescue van is out and a dog needs to go to the off site Vet, I take it in my truck.  For us it just works, but in the eyes of the Charity Commission, this sharing of the property is quite complicated.  The rescue can benefit from my business, or us, or our house and property, but if they ever feel  that we personally benefit from the rescue, we have crossed the line.

The other day the tumble dryer in the rescue broke, as they go through much  more laundry then the boarders do, I had James pull the dryer from my  boarding laundry room and move it to the rescue office- No big deal , crisis sorted !  But, Sylvia is away and I am swamped so I still have not had a chance to go buy a new tumble dryer yet.  A boarder is checking out and we washed their bedding and hung it out, but it is still damp,  so I run it over to the rescue side and pop it in the tumble drier. No problem, all sorted.   Now imagine- my tumble drier breaks and I run a load of bedding over to the rescue side to borrow their drier, again no problem.  But what  if we were a registered charity?  I have  just benefited from the charity by using their dryer. Now our little "no problem" becomes a big problem in the eyes of the Commission.  As we all share the property we have loads of little "no problems"here.  But everything gets done and the rescue still does a  pretty good  job and everyone here is a happy family.  But If we were a registered charity we could no longer operate like this.   We would have to legally and formally restructure the entire rescue operation and   Sylvia and I would no longer control the rescue.  We would have to have lease agreements and legal doccuments drawn up protecting us from the rescue and the rescue from us.    If we ever slipped up and handled a "little problem",  we could be seen  to be benefiting from the charity in the eyes of the Commission;  AND the Charity Commission ultimately has the power to dissolve charities, confiscate their endowments and assets and  give them to a charity whose aims the Commission approves.  Although very unlikely, we did not want to take this risk with our rescue and chose not to become registered.  (Don't think it could really  happen- look into the history of Redwings Horse Sanctuary).

Still we get questioned,  and  then told how much more money the rescue could raise if  it were registered.  So, we have again taken considerable advise regarding this issue and  even with taking  our particular  factors into account it could be done.  The process of securing registration has been estimated at a legal  cost of £7500 to £11,000 to the rescue.  Although it has been suggested that by spending this money we would "have an increased legitimacy in the eyes of the public which would allow easier fundraising" ( legal jargin ) , Sylvia and I would rather not spend the rescue's  money on solicitors and bureaucrats to try to prove we are legit.   We feel that we already try very hard to show our legitimacy to the public and our supporters- we are open to the public for inspection 365 days a year, we are a registered  company-not for profit  (no.  6200947), our books are done by a professional  accountant, we are fully insured, we are VAT registered.  we are licensed and inspected  by the local authority. We have an open door policy and invite anyone wishing to criticize or question us to come see what we do and how we do it.  We can prove and account for our personal spending. Basically,  we try to do it right already.  We just try to do it while living here and with our family of staff and supporters.  For those of you who  have been here and still feel that we are a legitimate rescue without being a registered charity- thank you for trusting us and beleiving in us.   For those who have never made it here- Please come see what we do before writing us off over a registration number.  We are aware of the financial benefits  that come with being a registered charity, but  are also aware of the downside and because of the bueaurocracy involved have decided not to pursue this course of action for Many Tears at this time.

Thank you
Bill VanAtta  

Sylvia Van Atta was the founder of Brook Cottage Animal Rescue then went on to build and open Last Chance Animal Rescue in Edenbridge. Kent. She also helped build Elait Loves Animals a rescue home in Israel and then ran Harmony Rescue in Tucson Arizona.

In her years of working to help animals Sylvia has worked with many different kinds of people - some very caring, and others not so. She has learnt that in the animal rescue world there are all kind of people.  There are people who just talk about doing things but never do!  Those who simply use animals as an income and those who dedicated their lives to save animals from all kinds of horrific situations. In all her work Sylvia has never hidden her activities and beliefs and below is an account of her life before Many Tears.

In 2003 Sylvia and her husband Bill ran The Humane Society of Richmond County in North Carolina USA. They took this huge challenge on when they discovered that all the animals that were not homed from this rescue were taken away and destroyed.  This was done by the two dog catchers who strangled the kittens and puppies, gassed the cats and shot the dogs.  Sylvia and Bill only took this job on because of their very deep love and respect for animals.

Sylvia has been a vegan (one step on from being a vegetarian) for over 25 years. However to be able to change the terrible cruelty she witnessed in Normth Carolina she had to learn and give a lethal injections simply because there were no homes for the animals. By taking this job she lost friends and had others criticise her, saying they loved animals far too much to ever kill them.

Whilst running The Humane Society Sylvia and Bill managed to build happy cat rooms and along with a very caring staff and wonderful volunteers.  They found no kill shelters all over the USA who were willing to help by taking some of the cats and dogs and finding them homes. Sometimes the rescues were an 18 hour drive away but to Sylvia and Bill every single life was worth the effort.  They were able to send animals to other no kill shelters and saved around 120 lives each month.  Those they could not send on were still saved from suffering a painful and stressful death. In the US Sylvia and Bill achieved their aims and ensured every animal that came to the rescue was treated with love and respect and given the best possible care.  After 10 months at The Humane Society, despite all their efforts, over 2000 feline and canine lives were lost and Sylvia and Bill felt they could no longer continue.  Howwever, alongside with all those at the Society who really cared they ensured the rescue would only move forwards and never back.

It was then in 2004 that Sylvia and Bill bought Cawdor Kennels.  The previous owners had a yard with kennels used for show dogs and they used these to opened their new rescue.

The name Many Tears Animal Rescue was Sylvia’s choice. Her heart still is and always will be heavy with the guilt of all those special friends she euthanized.  She wished this rescue to be dedicated to their precious lives.

Written by Leah Wragg

Update.....
I have been in touch with someone who lives in Richmond County and am pleased to say the staff are working very hard to reach their goal to make the Humane Society a no kill shelter.  One of the former volunteers now works there and I know cares so very much.  I hate what I did but I guess someone had to be the one to change the dogs and cats fate. I wish the staff and director strength and courage and hope anyone reading this will pray for them to achieve the goal of becoming A NO KILL SHELTER!!!
Sylvia

     I feel here I need to say a few words to explain that though a strong believer in "no kill" rescue homes, I am now a realist not an ostrich. I used to avoid any rescue that euthanised animals, instead of opening my eyes and going to them to help to change them.
     Necessity and my love of animals made me become a murderer (taking innocent lives) and I will never accept I was anything else. Worse still, when I could no longer take anymore - I left (though, of course, I waited till a replacement was found).
     Many times when walking the rows of kennels at The Human Society and being greeted joyfully by my friends, I would then have to betray them and walk them to the room of death.  There I would gently take their trusting paws, shave their legs and administer the fatal injection.  All the while they lovingly gazed into my eyes and wagged their tails. Cat, dog, puppy and kitten all took with them a little of my life as I took theirs. To add insult to injury they were then put into black bin liners and put into the freezer until one of the two dog catchers came and tossed them on their truck and dumped them in the land fill!
    My tears still flow each day and I know they always will. I have been told "The soul can have no rainbows, less the eyes have shed some tears" and saying has become deeply associated with Many Tears.