Broken Biscuits: Creating independence to disabled animals

A majority of the time, most people associate disability to humans and there are many charities that are dedicated in supporting people with disabilities. But what about animals that are disabled? You always come across stories of a dog losing a limb or a cat with sensory impairments. Don’t they deserve the same treatment and support as disabled people do? This is where Broken Biscuits comes in!

Broken Biscuits is a registered charity, founded in 2014, who provide custom made carts, wheelchairs and other mobility aids to help injured dogs and cats live a normal, happy life. They also give medical care to animals with hidden illnesses.

They also receive foster care and help in finding them forever homes.The charity is based in Surrey but they also have team members in the Midlands , Shropshire, Ealing, Wimbledon, Wales and Scotland.

I came across this charity when they appeared on daytime programme This Morning, earlier this week. Tim Giles, who runs the charity, along with his wife Cassie, joined the sofa with dog, Otto, who uses a wheelchair because he lost his back legs in a road accident, and Ziggy the cat, who is deaf, has minor brain damage and epilepsy. I particularly loved Otto’s set of wheels and a number plate with his name on displayed at the back. Plus he has much better reversing skills than I do in my wheelchair.

After watching this, it inspired me to write a blog post about them and find out more on their goals and achievements. I got in touch with the charity and they were happy to provide me with further information:

Why is the charity called Broken Biscuits?

We are called Broken Biscuits because so often our animals are just like that; broken biscuits left sat on the plate, not chosen or passed over in preference for the perfect one. 

They are just as good if not better than good in our eyes. They have quite often overcome personal tragedies and learnt to adapt swiftly with such amazing attitudes too. Working in rehabilitation for animals, amputees or those who need help building muscle mass back etc. It really is such a joy. Seeing just how determined and happy they are to learn new ways to get back up on their feet again is inspiring. 

Their is a misconception that they will be sat on the floor, just watching their lives waste away. But  this is not true at all, they don’t get depressed thinking of what they have lost. They come out of the clinics with an incredible desire to find new ways to live. 

When we provide them with these tools to give them back their independance the feeling of joy is mutual. We absolutely LOVE seeing them take their first steps in the wheelchairs. We feel really passionate about cheerleading their right to do it.

Some people are quick to dismiss them this recovery and suggest their lives will be a poorer existence.  Quality of life is thrown at them so often with little or no experience of what is possible before saying it. We encourage people to look at any number of our dogs films of them racing along the beaches, in all terrain wheels, wheeling around the parks, climbing down mountains and round steep corners. Anything is possible with the right equipment. Limb loss should not have to mean they lose their lives at all. 

How many animals have you rescued in total so far?

We have not sat down to work out the numbers , but we believe if we went through the recirds it would be in the thousands . Taking responsibility for cats or dogs that are homeless or surrended to us is just part of what we do . Providing the mobility equipment and funding vet care is a big part too. We also fund spay and neuter programmes and vaccination drives as well. 

Do you only care for dogs & cats or do you care for a range of animals (e.g rabbits, guinea pigs, horses etc)?

We are happy to help any animal. So yes we aren’t exclusive to dogs but it is easily the animal we get most requests to help. In the past we have helped pigs, donkeys, rabbits and cats.

How many countries have you rescued animals from?

Happy tails the shelter we support is based in Bosnia. So alot of our efforts go here and to surrounding countries: Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Bulgaria & Ukraine. We also work in Morocco exclusively at SFT shelter who have the largest amount of disabled animals in Africa and also we work in Romania.

This is where our dog Otto was found. There is an amazing homeless animal hospital here called the ‘Centre of Hope’ and it is exactly that; A unique place for  animals who without it wouldn’t be able to get the medical attention they so desperately need. The vets and vet techs who work here run spay and neuter programmes as well which are offered free to shelters and low income families.

Their vision for stopping this endless cycle of animal suffering we share. Without addressing the overpopulation problem we will never stop having to help and home our disabled ones who often lose their limbs from road traffic accidents.

Occasionally we send wheelchairs to Thailand or Greece and Cyprus. We rarely say no to any shelter who asks but we focus most of our attention in Eastern Europe. 

To find out more about the charity, ways you can donate and information on adopting one of these amazing animals, visit Broken Biscuits on Facebook.

In addition to promoting Broken Biscuits on this blog post, I will be donating £20 to them to show my support for all the incredible work they do! I hope you can all join me in supporting them too!

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