ABOUT US
At MM Animal Rescue, our mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome stray animals from Romania to the UK. We are not a 'shelter' which basically means all of our funding comes from generous donations with no support from the government. We take pride in prioritizing the welfare of our animals and never cage them which prevents us from becoming a funded or public shelter. Although this makes fundraising more difficult, it is something we will never compromise on.
We believe the animals in our care have the right to roam freely within the rescue until they find their forever family, and are only closed and separated through the night for their own safety. This is the major difference between us and most rescues and shelters and it really shines through in our animals. In our rescue they have the opportunity to interact, play and grow together whilst awaiting their perfect home. Many of the animals we save from the streets have been carelessly abandoned or discarded and as a result some are traumatised by their past.
We work tirelessly with our animals to rebuild their trust in people and show them true love and compassion in a safe and happy environment. Adopting an animal from us or donating helps us to continue our mission which is driven by compassion and desire to change the lives of the all the animals we can.
2017: TEAM ASSEMBLES
In 2017 the team assembled to meet in Romania for the first time. Before this, all contact had just been online so Nikki, Jakki, Frankie, Pam and Penny flew out from the UK to Romania to meet Mihaela. She welcomed us into the rescue and showed us a day in her life, we were all shocked at how much she has to do alone and how tireless her efforts are. Not only does she care for the animals within the yard but feeds the large stray population still on the street daily at numerous different stops. She has also been involved in petitioning the mayor to stop the barbaric 'dog-catchers' and also helped the Animal Society with various spay campaigns to reduce the stray population long term. Over the next few years we would fundraise and complete numerous projects to try and fix up the yard including building a cat house, cat balcony and outdoor toilet as there wasn't even a bathroom in the house! There were numerous trials and tribulations throughout our time at the original yard as it was essentially falling apart, we had to rebuild the perimeter fence and fix up the roof countless times whilst also feeding and caring for a growing number of animals.
2022: NEW BEGINNINGS
After just moving into the new rescue it was time to settle in and start fixing up the property and land. We firstly had to build a fence to secure the yard and then Mihaela began moving across all of the animals in her car in small groups. We have since completed numerous projects to renovate the inside of the house for cats including adding new windows for more light and ventilation and refencing some of the pens. Mihaela now makes the tiring 40 minute journey from home and back each day to maintain and run the rescue. She has to go to the shop to stock up on food every few days, take the animals to the vets for check ups and vaccinations, clean the cat house and sleeping areas and wash and dry the bedding. She also has to keep the outside clean and tidy for the dogs and make time to play with, love and nurture the animals all before stopping off to feed the strays on the streets - adding on to her 40 minute journey home. It is not easy by any account, but she does this day in day out because of her deep and genuine love and endless passion for animals and rescuing.
2010: THE BEGINNING
Mihaela has always had a deep love and passion for animals and began rescuing and feeding the local strays as she grew up. She initially kept some cats in her basement as she only lived in a flat and would take the dogs in from the street to save them from the dog catchers when they did their rounds. She finally gave up her job to rescue full time and met a man with a yard who let her keep some dogs there. He had a terrible hoarding problem so Mihaela would take him hot meals and check on him everyday. After a few years he died and his family took over the land and agreed to rent it to us. This is when the rescuing stepped up a notch and we began to clean and fix up the old house and land. This was a big project to de-hoard the inside of the house that was ultimately in disrepair but was the best we could do at the time, at least it provided a safe space and shelter but wouldn't be a permanent solution.
2021: CRISIS
In the October of 2021 the owners of the yard we were renting decided they wanted to sell the yard, they had threatened this many times before but nothing had come of it. This time they were serious and we had 2 months to leave. This started a cascade of emergency pleas and desperate fundraising to try and buy our own land, as at the time we had around 40 animals in our rescue who risked going back on to the street if we couldn't find somewhere else. Nowhere would let us rent for the purposes we needed so the only option was to try and buy somewhere. Mihaela spent many sleepless nights and long days searching for somewhere local with no luck, she finally found an old house with attached land in a village around 40 minutes away and went to visit. When she saw the land she knew it was perfect, or at least the best we could do in the circumstances, it had running water and electricity and some existing structures we could repurpose, as well as a house to keep the cats in. Through sheer grit, determination and the enormous generosity of our supporters we managed to raise the funds to buy the land and moved in towards the end of 2021.
This is the back yard, there's a garage here that some of the dogs use to sleep in during the winter or to shred any new fluffy toys and play around in when its raining!
THE BACKYARD
THE OLD PENS
These outbuildings are used to house some of the dogs that need to be separated through the night and the ram pen has been repurposed for new dogs.
THE OTHER YARD
This additional piece of land was included when we bought the house however we've not been able to use it yet as we haven't had the funds to fence and secure it.
THE CAT
HOUSE
There are 4 rooms and a hallway we house the cats in with plans to rebuild a balcony to give them some outdoor space.
MEET THE TEAM
Nicola Bouzid
Adoptions manager
Nikki is our adoptions manager and handles all things adoptions! She assesses the applications and works hard to match the fur babies with the perfect family. She has many years of expertise in rescue and is great at advising and organising our adoptions. Alongside this she also hosts fundraising events on the south facebook page.
Francesca Wallace
Admin/Support
Frankie is a dear friend of Mihaela's and makes regular visits to Romania to help out. She has been involved in numerous projects that the team has fundraised for over the years and is a great support to MM when she visits. She also manages the website and sponsorship programme and has adopted 2 of her own fur babies from Mihaela.
Jacqueline Wallace
Fundraising manager
Jakki has been a great support to Mihaela over the years and has visited several times to lend a hand and support. Back in the UK she manages the facebook north page and runs fundraising events on there. She has also adopted 5 cats from Mihaela over the years.
Monique Rainey
Adoptions & Fundraising
Pam Robinson
Fundraising North
Lizzie Manners
Fundraising North