Can you help?
With over 100 dogs currently in our care, we are more in need of your support than ever before! On this page we list the various ways that you can help, and if you’re aware of others then please let us know.
The German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund receives no public funding and is reliant upon the generous donations of its supporters. We are all volunteers and so draw no salaries or recompense for our time. The only common deductions from donations are the transaction fees from the platform, typically PayPal, and they charge a reduced percentage compared to their commercial terms.
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All support is gratefully received and contributes to the well-being of the dogs in our care. Whether you adopt one of our dogs, make a donation, or volunteer your help directly – it all combines to allow us to continue our mission of rescuing vulnerable German Shepherd Dogs ("GSD"), providing their care and rehabilitation, and ultimately finding new homes for them, or if necessary providing a home for them ourselves.
Adoption
The ultimate goal for any of the dogs we rescue is to set them up in a new, loving home and so enable them to live a life they deserve, and not the one they’ve suffered. We have an established process to ensure the best possible match between the dog and their new family.
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If the dog has complex medical needs then we can help with advice and financial support. If the dog has certain behaviours then appropriate restrictions will be required for the safety and comfort of you and the dog.
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Taking in a dog and aiding them in rehabilitating into a new life is incredibly rewarding.
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PLEASE NOTE - AN ADOPTION FEE WILL APPLY
Fostering
As a rule, we do not use foster homes. We have done so in the past and encountered various issues. In the main we’ve found greater success to have the dogs in the selected kennels to be cared for. This gives the carers who are very experienced with German Shepherds, time to assess them. When we home a dog, we try to ensure we are matching it to the right home. We cannot do this if we have not spent time with the dog. Because our dogs are so well cared for in our selected kennels, they settle well and are very happy.
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However, sometimes we may have a dog who doesn't settle very well in a kennel environment, but may thrive much better in a loving home. Occasionally dogs may have had veterinary treatment, so again would recuperate much better in the home.
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Although we do not use them that often, it can be difficult to find a fosterer at short notice. If you think you could help, then please contact via gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com. Please write the subject as: German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund Fostering in your email. Veterinary bills will be paid for by the German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund. All we ask you for is your love and compassion.
Become a Member
The German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund relies solely on donations, memberships, merchandise, and fundraising activities to fund the work we do. We have to raise enough money to cover the costs of kennelling the German Shepherd dogs rescued by us and pay their often expensive veterinary fees and medication. By becoming a member you will be helping the dogs rescued by The German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund. As a member, you will receive a quarterly copy of our newsletter – Dogsbody. It keeps you updated with our news, the latest on the dogs, items of interest and other fun stuff. On top of that you will be helping us to continue to help those wonderful dogs of our beloved breed that are in need.
Sponsor a Dog
Some of the German Shepherd dogs rescued by us have very little chance of being re- homed. This may be because of illness, or because they are old, or simply because they do not get on with other dogs.
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The older or sick dogs may be lucky enough to find a foster home but The German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund continue to pay for their vet bills and medication. The other dogs that are not lucky enough to be fostered have to be housed in commercial kennels, presenting us with large kennel bills.
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We operate a “Sponsor a German Shepherd” scheme where you can sponsor one of these dogs and receive quarterly newsletters from them. The money raised helps us to continue to care for them whether they be in a foster home or kennels. Sponsorship costs just £20 a year. It makes a perfect gift for your dog loving friends and gives you the satisfaction of knowing you are helping a German Shepherd Dog in need.
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To see all of our dogs that you can sponsor, click here to go straight to our "Permanent Residents" page.
Join the Friends of GSD Welfare
Becoming a Friend of GSD Welfare not only helps support us in our mission to rescue, care for, and rehome vulnerable German Shepherds – it also unlocks a wealth of exclusive content and access.
For only £3 per month you’ll receive the following perks *:
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Exclusive access to the Facebook Friends of GSD Welfare group
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Monthly Q&A session with Lisa Hird, our resident behavioural expert
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Special monthly guest speakers
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Monthly Hot Potato topics discussing GSD Welfare Fund and beyond
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Opportunity to commission your own custom Friends of GSD Welfare badge
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Join now by setting up your £3 (more is always welcome!) by setting up a standing order with your bank (our account details below) or by recurring payment via PayPal (gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com) using "friends" as a reference but please also email us so we can send you the link.
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Account Name: German Shepherd Welfare Fund
Bank: Barclays
Account No: 70254622 / Sort Code: 20-34-69
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Donations
There are several ways to donate to The German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund:
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Bank Transfer
If you’d like to donate via a bank transfer then please email gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com for details.
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PayPal
You can donate to us directly via PayPal using the donate button below. Gift Aid can be added if you’re a UK taxpayer, and if you’d like to set up a monthly donation then that option is available too. PayPal donations can be sent as a one off donation, or you can set up a monthly donation. You can also add Gift Aid (UK tax payers only) to your donation.
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PayPal QR Code
PayPal QR codes are a simple and effective way to make a donation with your mobile device. Point your device’s camera at the QR code and the PayPal app will provide the relevant details to make a donation.
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Your device’s camera app will usually recognise and respond to a QR code. If it doesn’t then a dedicated QR code reader app will need to be installed. The PayPal app is also needed.
You can also save the QR code to share with people you think would be interested in supporting us. QR code donations work in the same way as regular donations, so can be set up monthly as well.
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PayPal Give at Checkout
PayPal allows you to choose your favourite charity and it will then offer you the chance when you checkout of also donating £1 to us. It doesn’t sound a lot, but it soon mounts up! There are two ways to select your favourite charity:
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Log in to PayPal and once your Dashboard loads, scroll down and you will see the option to select or change your favourite charity.
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Log in to PayPal and then go to our charity profile page here – https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/190665 and then on our profile page click the ‘Set as favourite charity’ button.
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By Cheque
We are also grateful to receive donations by cheque. Please make payable to The German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund and send to:
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German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund
334 Smeeth Road, Marshland St. James, Wisbech, Cambs. PE14 8EP
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Purchase one of our books
ACE'S ADVENTURES - We have published a book about one of the dogs who came into welfare and it is available on Kindle here.
It is written by our Chair, Debbie Hill and tells the story of Ace's Adventures from when he arrived with her.
Alternatively you can purchase a copy of the eBook in PDF form, for just £5.00, using the PayPal button below. We will then email you a copy.
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ADOPTION TALES TO HAPPIER TAILS - is a collection of adoption stories. Reading how other adopters have managed the transition may help future adopters with their expectations as well as understand their new dog better. You can purchase a copy for £3.00, using the PayPal button below. We will then email you your copy.
Online
More and more of us do at least some of our shopping online, and there’s also a range of different programmes that generate donations while you shop online. Some are specific to a store, and others cover a range of popular online stores. In most cases it takes just a few minutes to set up, but they all come at no cost to the user and some have apps that prompt you while shopping so you don’t miss a chance to donate. Individually the donations can be quite small (some schemes are more generous than others), but they quickly mount up and the more supporters that sign up for them, the more beneficial it is for us. The various schemes we are enrolled with are listed below, and we’re happy to hear about any new schemes we can get involved with.
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Easy Fundraising
You can help The German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund raise money to help our rescued German Shepherds every time you shop on the internet simply by signing up to Easy Fundraising without it costing you a penny!
It is very simple. Just visit the website and register and choose “German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund” as your cause. Each time you are going to shop online, visit the easyfundraising website and select your retailer i.e. Amazon, Argos, Tesco, Asda, Debenhams, M&S (I was surprised at how many retailers there was to choose from).
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You will still be buying direct from the shop you select but because you go via easyfundraising, the retailer will make a donation to Welfare. It does not cost you an extra penny, in fact you can even save money with their special offers and voucher codes
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Amazon Wish List
We have a range of treats and useful items which people can purchase from our Amazon Wish List which always go down well with our furry residents. You will need to have our address listed as one of your alternative delivery addresses.
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Please use this address for deliveries:
German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund
334 Smeeth Road, Marshland St. James, Wisbech, Cambs. PE14 8EP
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GSD Welfare Fund Auctions
We also have a Facebook group for holding auctions, and there’s some very cool items that pop up on there from time to time.
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https://www.facebook.com/GSDWelfareFundAuctions
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If you’d like to auction an item to raise money for us, then please get in touch.
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GSD Welfare Fund Store
We are currently in the process of setting up an online store which will sell a small range of GSD and GSDWF merchandise.