A SANCTUARY owner has sounded a renewed plea for both young and old to help tend to his growing flock of creatures.
Terry Bowes runs Wetheriggs Animal Rescue, at Thorpe Farm, and has seen the number of new animals entering his centre increase in the past couple of months.
And the sanctuary, off the A66, needs more pairs of hands to cope with their expanding workload.
Mr Bowes hoped those with ambitions to go further in the zoological field could enhance their CVs with a spell at Wetheriggs.
He said: “We’ve got kids and we’ve got older folk who come along – we can fit to suit any hours.
“We have women here who have families and need to finish for the school run and we’ve got youngsters who do their work experience – and others in between.”
Students from Askham Bryan College and the Houghall Campus of East Durham College have come to Wetheriggs to gain experience as well as school pupils from Teesdale.
But Mr Bowes stressed it wasn’t just the animal side which could offer hands on opportunities.
He said: “We’ve got a shop here now and that helps support us. We’ve got plans for an education department. We would like to set up a full-blown department with retired teachers because the most important part of what we do is educating – it’s just as important as rescuing animals.”
There has been a lot of work at Wetheriggs in the past 18 months and Mr Bowes hoped the site’s second barn would be halfway finished before Easter. He added: “This barn is fully functioning now – it’s huge when you think of how we started because we are getting bigger and bigger.”
Changes at Ark on the Edge Sanctuary, near Woodland, have also seen an increase in the number of creatures making their way to Wetheriggs.
Mr Bowes added: “The biggest thing is keeping it going – we’ve got a number of people who volunteer with us who get a lot of experience.
“One has full time employment at a zoo, one works in a gift shop and one has even started her own business – and that’s just in the last 12 months.”
Meanwhile, a competition is underway to help name two kids born to a goat earlier this month. Their names must begin with the letter H and suggestions can be made in the sanctuary Facebook page.
To offer your services to Wetheriggs, call Terry Bowes on 01833 627444 or find out more at http://www.wetherig gsanimalrescue.co.uk
