History

In 1965, the Hulme area of Manchester was demolished and rebuilt, and pets were not permitted in the new council properties. This resulted in large numbers being abandoned. Peggy Henderson, along with local residents, began to tackle the problem by establishing the Society for Abandoned Animals. The aim of the group was to care for the displaced pets and find them new, permanent and loving homes.

As the Society increased in size it decided to purchase a site capable of housing all the animals that were being admitted. In 1969 they relocated to new premises in Buxton, Derbyshire. This location proved to be too remote for most visitors and as a result closed down seven years later.

Mosley Acre Farm, the Society’s current home, was acquired in 1994 and re-named The Peggy Henderson Animal Sanctuary after its founder and benefactor. Over the years the farm’s buildings have been converted to provide accommodation for the animals that come into the Society’s care, but there is still a significant amount of work to do.

Peggy Henderson M.B.E

Peggy Henderson died on 15th September 2004. Born Mary Margaret Wade in 1913 in Preston, Peggy attended her local school before going to college. In 1934 she got her first job as a campaign assistant to Randolph Churchill (brother of Winston) who was at the time trying to become a Member of Parliament. She then moved to Guernsey to teach languages. In 1938, Peggy joined the R.A.F., a job that took her all over the world. It was during her time in this job that Peggy received an M.B.E. for her service to the Air Ministry.
During a tour of Egypt between 1949 and 1951, Peggy met her future husband Frederick Henderson and married him in 1953. Sadly, Frederick passed away in 1959, followed a couple of years later by Peggy’s mother. This prompted her to return to Lancashire in 1961 where she began her work in animal rescue and in 1965 was responsible for the establishment of the Society for Abandoned Animals.
Peggy lived at the sanctuary until her death, although ailing health meant she had to reduce her involvement in the Society’s activities. She remained a Trustee of the Society until January 2003.

Aims and Ethos

The Society is a registered charity, which aims to provide food, shelter and veterinary treatment for animals unwanted or abandoned by their owners, and to find them permanent, loving homes.
We believe in giving the animals that come into our care every chance of finding a permanent new home. In practice, this means that an animal will only be put to sleep if it is suffering due to ill-health, or has such severe behavioural problems that it is impossible to find it a new home (e.g. certain forms of aggression in dogs). Luckily, this is a rare occurrence, and we are successful in rehoming a significant number of animals that are hard to rehome due to age,
health issues or behavioural issues. We will never put an animal to sleep simply because no one has come forward to offer it a home.

Facilities

We currently have facilities for dogs, cats and rabbits. For dogs we have a kennel block and a separate puppy unit with two pens. There is an enclosed exercise paddock where dogs can be trained and can spend time off the lead.
For cats we have an isolation unit, a rehoming unit and a nursery unit with four pens for nursing mothers and/or kittens. We also have nearly thirty feral cats resident on site, although at present we do not have the facilities to admit any more ferals.
For rabbits we have a rehoming unit.

How Do We Operate?

We try to admit animals, by appointment, on a ‘first come first served basis’, which usually involves being placed on a waiting list as demand for spaces is high. In practice, we also have to juggle to cater for emergencies, which inevitably have to take priority. Once an animal comes into our care we ensure that they are treated according to their individual needs. As some animals are in our care for a considerable time, we aim to make their stay with us as comfortable as possible.
We operate with a small team of paid staff, backed up by a large team of dedicated and hard-working volunteers.

Links

• PetPlan
• RSPCA
• Rabbit Welfare
• ADCH
• Big Benefits

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