Doone Brae Farm

Doone Brae Farm

Doone Brae Farm
Windmill Road
Pepperstock
Luton
Bedforshire
LU1 4LQ

Tel: 07818 406 619
E-Mail: Info@AlternativeSanctuary.co.uk

Web: Doone Brae Farm

About Doone Brae Farm

The Alternative Sanctuary is a non-profit making organisation, which cares for abandoned and unwanted animals. They stay here for life, so why not come and see them.

History of Doone Brae Farm

The Alternative Sanctuary started on a very small scale when we took in a few unwanted animals while living in a small semi-detached house in Carpenters Park Watford. Our first cat was a young female found at the stables where we kept our two horses. No one would take her on, so after feeding her for a while we caught her. The youngest of my three sisters was told to take her into the house and tell my dad how desperately she wanted to keep her. He accepted it pretty well as he did the few hundreds (maybe even into the thousands now) that followed! Suzzie as we named her had to become Suza when the vet discovered that she was a he! He moved houses with us later but always remained quite nervous.

Our first rescued horse we brought for £50 (the knacker price). He had been a blood horse, was only four years old and had been brought by a man for his daughter. When feed prices became terribly expensive (because there was a grain shortage) he was due to be shot. Because so many people could no longer afford to keep their horses - so many were being shot - he was kept waiting for three days for the knacker man. On the third day my mother couldn't stand it any more so she bought him. He had anemia from loosing so much blood so had to be given Guinness and my mother had to go to the stables three times a day to give him small feeds. As he got stronger he became difficult to handle and it was discovered that he had not been properly gelded. One testicle had not descended so he had to have a fairly major operation to sort that out.

Our first rescued dog was Sunday who one of my sisters found while out on a ride. She was an Airdale and totally do-lally. It took hours to catch her. She was partly nervous, partly disobedient and as she got older she became deaf and blind. She gave my sister many embarrassing moments going through people's dustbins and refusing to come. She was named Sunday as we found her on a Sunday! It would take too long to go through all of the histories of the animals we took in but these were really the founding cases. We moved to a bigger house in Garston, Watford and rented two fields. My father put up a put up some make-shift stables in one of the fields (the first of many).

With the house we brought three ponies as the owner was a dealer and threw them in as part of the deal. We have been advised this was not normal practice! One was to be my first pony Ginger who spent most weekends throwing me off and leaving me with concussion, as he was not broken or backed - I was only six years old at the time! My two elder sisters had the others

Warrior was stolen with Connie, my second eldest sisters other pony on her eighteenth birthday. They were never found despite numerous trips to Markets across the country. Years later we discovered that up the road from us was an illegal slaughterhouse where they probably ended up so at least were not transported for miles which was small consolation to one of the worst events in our life. My mother was also talked into buying a rabbit that was being kept in such a small cage that it could not sit up or turn around. He was named Arthur, as he was half a crown. He was to live in a shed with the run of the garden and a friend called Annabel (a male also!).