My Account
A couple of dozen dogs of every shape, size and age are bowling down a grassy bank to a lily-covered pond. A few dive straight in, others chase a ball, the rest chase each other. Every tail is wagging and every face “grinning”, as only happy hounds can. They bound up and down the hill, running to and from their “mum”, Karen Gibbons, for endless pats and praise.
This is Longacres, a haven for dogs in farmland just outside Wellsford, where abandoned, unwanted and rescued animals are welcomed into a safe forever home.
For many of the dogs, this is unimaginable heaven after the lives they’ve previously known. Some are rescued from gang or drug houses, or from puppy farms, where they’re kept inside as breeding machines, arriving skinny and badly treated. Others are from the pound, picked up from the side of the road, referred from vets or abandoned at the gate. Then there are those who simply need a new home, when owners don’t want to give up their pets, but are forced to when family circumstances change or they can no longer cope due to illness or old age.
Whatever their provenance, every dog is welcomed and showered with love, even those who initially don’t know how to handle that – Karen has to employ welding gloves now and again, when a dog has been so badly abused or neglected that it lashes out, but even they soon settle.
As well as rescuing and rehabilitating dogs, Karen also makes sure they are desexed, registered, microchipped, wormed and anything else they might need for adoption. Just as important, they get plenty of attention, good food and access to Karen’s house and garden.
“They’re healthy, they’re happy,” she says. “It really is a haven for them. I was originally just trying to take in older dogs – this is their retirement home – but there are always more needing homes. Puppies get dumped every day.”
Karen has been rescuing and rehoming dogs and other animals for as long as she can remember. Though a professional florist by training – she was the florist in the Auckland Sheraton throughout the 1990s, and still somehow finds the time to maintain a beautiful flower garden – there have always been plenty of animals, as well.
“Animals are my life,” she says. “I’ve always had dogs and always loved animals, full stop.”
In the past, that has meant horses, donkeys, pigs, cows, sheep, goats, birds, cats and more, but since she moved to Wellsford 18 years ago, dogs have become her main focus and mission. However, running Longacres virtually single-handed is always challenging for Karen, not least financially. Apart from working two days a week drafting cattle at Wellsford Market, always with at least one of her dogs in tow, she relies entirely on donations to keep Longacres going – which, when the vet’s bill alone can run up to $4000 a month, means she is always desperately short of funds.
“I don’t like asking for help, but I really can’t do this on my own,” she says. “Longacres is not a charitable trust, just me trying to make a difference.”
She is planning to build new runs and a room for sick and injured dogs, but will need help with labour and materials to make it happen. But the biggest issue for her and all dog rescues remains the sheer number of dogs that need taking in and rehoming.
“My ultimate goal is to get proper financial backing so I could have mobile desexing units, then I’d get on the road and desex dogs like mad,” she says. “It’s an epidemic.”
Sometimes, the endless expense and physical and emotional exhaustion of caring for so many dogs, and seeing what people can do to animals, is heartbreaking, and Karen has occasionally considered closing down.
“I ask myself why am I doing this, why don’t I close down, But I’m here for the dogs. I can’t save them all, but I can give every dog here time to live the life they should have – they run, they play, they swim and they sleep inside on couches.”
If you can help Longacres, or are interested in adopting a dog, contact Karen via the Longacres Animal Haven page on Facebook or email longacresk9s@gmail.com. Donations can be made online to Longacres, account no. 12-3094-0013761-00
