# New rodent rescue



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

We have set ourselves up as Scritches Rat and Rodent Rescue after being handed some unwanted rats on Friday.

It may be awhile til we get anymore as we are only new but please do check us out at Home - Scritches Rat and Rodent Rescue


----------



## HattiesHouse (Jun 6, 2011)

I will add you to the links on my site, are you on facebook too? im Home - Hattie's House and Hatties House Rat Rescue | Facebook

x


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

Scritches Rat and Rodent Rescue - Facebook

Please do add links, and I will add yours to mine


----------



## myzoo (Jan 13, 2010)

thats great good luck with the rescuing.well done


----------



## HattiesHouse (Jun 6, 2011)

ceretrea said:


> Scritches Rat and Rodent Rescue - Facebook
> 
> Please do add links, and I will add yours to mine


done! and thank you


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

The site looks excellent hun, huge well done to you for doing this xx


----------



## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Good luck hun  xx


----------



## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

Good luck  x


----------



## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Lovely website and wonderful concept...it is often the rodents and esp rats that end up wiith no-one to go so well done you!!!!!!!


----------



## debs9019 (Feb 7, 2010)

Good Luck with ur rescue, i need too make a website for mine soon.


----------



## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

A huge well done hun in taken the brave steps to do this. I wish you all the best in doing it


----------



## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

ceretrea said:


> Scritches Rat and Rodent Rescue - Facebook
> 
> Please do add links, and I will add yours to mine


And I've 'liked' both your pages this morning!

Good luck with the rescue, it's a wonderful thing you're doing


----------



## debs9019 (Feb 7, 2010)

I've Like your page too


----------



## manic rose (Mar 12, 2011)

have "liked" both the rescue pages. congrats on setting up a rescue, it's a very admirable thing to do


----------



## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

Great News! Hope it goes well 

If you need any help/advice about anything gerbilly I'll do all I can to help out (only if you needed it of course)


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

I really appreciate all the words of support  And I may take you up on that Gerbil help for their care sheet and so on.

Its truly mind boggling how much paperwork goes into rescue and I have a new and healthy respect for small rescues who deal with lots of animals especially cats and dogs!


----------



## manic rose (Mar 12, 2011)

ceretrea said:


> Its truly mind boggling how much paperwork goes into rescue


just out of curosity, what sort of paperwork do you have to fill in? its something I dream of doing if I didnt have to work


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

manic rose said:


> just out of curosity, what sort of paperwork do you have to fill in? its something I dream of doing if I didnt have to work


Right well, to cover yourself legally, you need a handover form for whomever hands their animals into you. Then you need a homecheck form, rehoming application and rehoming contract. Then there's invoices and receipts from the vets, bank statement, and the forms for the HMRC. Any charity that has less the £5000 income per annum registers only with HMRC. Over that and you need to register with the charities commission who require you to then have a committee, a constitution, AGM's and accompanying minutes.

You need to keep all your emails from applications etc too.

Its all been a 'bit' of a learning curve. I've seen too many rescues get stung because they missed a bit of paperwork so I'm covering all the bases


----------



## manic rose (Mar 12, 2011)

wow had no idea that it could get so involved, especially if you have over £5000 in income


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

manic rose said:


> wow had no idea that it could get so involved, especially if you have over £5000 in income


I'm secretly hoping it won't get that high lol

When you think each animal (or group of animals) generates at least four forms...more if multiple applications. Then you can see how much work goes into cat and dog rescue for example who may get many application for one animal. Or rescues with a lot of animals coming in and out, I honestly just don't know how they do it


----------



## manic rose (Mar 12, 2011)

ceretrea said:


> I'm secretly hoping it won't get that high lol
> 
> When you think each animal (or group of animals) generates at least four forms...more if multiple applications. Then you can see how much work goes into cat and dog rescue for example who may get many application for one animal. Or rescues with a lot of animals coming in and out, I honestly just don't know how they do it


....and there was me thinking it would be a fairly simple thing to run! :blink: are you doing it all by yourself or are there friends/family who can help a bit?


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

Its me and my OH. Me doing the paperwork side of it, the handling and so on and Rob does the cleaning out and also handles/freeranges aswell. Dad helps with transport  Thats it really. When it takes off its definitely going to take over.

To be fair, its easier once you've set up and gotten used to what goes where and what forms etc. As long as we stay small we will cope. *must stay small* lol like thats gonna happen :001_tongue:


----------



## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

Yep no problem! Would be happy to help. 

Are you going to be a registered charity? Only reason I ask is that I enquired before we started up as a rehome (around 3 years ago) and was told we didnt "have" to have any paperwork - I'm not sure if its just because its basically only me and hubby that run the place. Also we have basically no income other than our own wages so i think that plays a part in it?
Just a bit worried now with you saying about all the paperwork incase things have changed.


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

GerbilNik said:


> Yep no problem! Would be happy to help.
> 
> Are you going to be a registered charity? Only reason I ask is that I enquired before we started up as a rehome (around 3 years ago) and was told we didnt "have" to have any paperwork - I'm not sure if its just because its basically only me and hubby that run the place. Also we have basically no income other than our own wages so i think that plays a part in it?
> Just a bit worried now with you saying about all the paperwork incase things have changed.


Nope you don't 'have' to. Its a case of proving who legally owns the animal at any one point in time. People have handed animals into rescue only to come and try and claim them the following day. Without a handover form you have no legal standing. Same with rehoming contracts. A new owner can claim you are still responsible for the animal financially while in their care .. plus it helps you if you need to reclaim the animal back if it is not being cared for. Applications prove you are doing your best to find good homes as does homecheck forms, if the rubbish hits the fan you are covered.

HMRC require invoices and receipts for the purposes of gaining VAT relief, that only applies if you register with them as a charity, which we intend to do as it will seriously cut vets bills for the rescue animals. Never mess with the taxman so keep all statements within the tax period too 

Joe public will very often enquire as to your practices so having forms and procedure in place is good practice from that point of view too. If people are giving donations its good for them to know you are doing everything above board and not using donations for your own purposes. That is a definite need if you get big enough to register with the charities commission. Its at that point you really need some sort of accountant.


----------



## GerbilNik (Apr 1, 2011)

Aaah yes that's what i thought! I just got a bit worried for a moment there! We very rarely get any donations anyway, but its mainly been due to time restraints about the forms etc, plus the fact I don't have access to a printer. We've managed to build up quite a good reputation now and I'm going to very soon be concentrating on more paperwork etc. With the amount of animals increasing compared to what we used to look after it's becoming more important. Thanks for the info and good luck with everything xx 

ETA - things like homecheck forms we have never done as on most occasions it's been ourselves doing the homechecks although obviously we will give people certain criteria if they do them on our behalf. Its definitely given me the kick up the backside to get that stuff sorted - I have a bit more time for that sort of thing now so it's my next project (amongst others lol)
Thanks again!


----------



## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

Sounds like an awful lot of work hun, but definitely for a worthwhile cause  And given the way some people are it sounds like ensuring you do all the paperwork is the best option. Are you setting up a bank account for the charity? ONly asking because the woman I board my mice with runs a charity too and found that most banks will charge a monthly fee for a charity account, meaning that the charity doesn't get all the profit, and it's against bank policy to use a personal account for anything other than personal use (some banks will close your account if you use a personal account for any other reason, had to deal with a lot of customers who hit that problem collecting money for a charity donation, paying the occasional work bill through their account etc!) If you are setting up an account apparently some do special offers whereby they waive the fee for x amount of time so it's worth spending some time looking into it


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

zany_toon said:


> Sounds like an awful lot of work hun, but definitely for a worthwhile cause  And given the way some people are it sounds like ensuring you do all the paperwork is the best option. Are you setting up a bank account for the charity? ONly asking because the woman I board my mice with runs a charity too and found that most banks will charge a monthly fee for a charity account, meaning that the charity doesn't get all the profit, and it's against bank policy to use a personal account for anything other than personal use (some banks will close your account if you use a personal account for any other reason, had to deal with a lot of customers who hit that problem collecting money for a charity donation, paying the occasional work bill through their account etc!) If you are setting up an account apparently some do special offers whereby they waive the fee for x amount of time so it's worth spending some time looking into it


Crikey, thanks for that info hun. Never knew they charged for charities! What a cheek


----------



## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

ceretrea said:


> Crikey, thanks for that info hun. Never knew they charged for charities! What a cheek


That was my comment too - the current bank that the woman I spoke to is with "only" charge £5 a month - not much but it's still money that should go to the charity!!! Even with that she still has to pay if she uses a cheque on the account - good job cheques will be defunct soon given how much they charge her. Before that the one she was with were taking £20 a month  And she's only a small rescue too, she runs it from her home and usually only has a couple of small rodents in at a time or some buns, rats etc. Glad the info helped though Ceretrea


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

zany_toon said:


> That was my comment too - the current bank that the woman I spoke to is with "only" charge £5 a month - not much but it's still money that should go to the charity!!! Even with that she still has to pay if she uses a cheque on the account - good job cheques will be defunct soon given how much they charge her. Before that the one she was with were taking £20 a month  And she's only a small rescue too, she runs it from her home and usually only has a couple of small rodents in at a time or some buns, rats etc. Glad the info helped though Ceretrea


----------



## manic rose (Mar 12, 2011)

zany_toon said:


> the current bank that the woman I spoke to is with "only" charge £5 a month - not much but it's still money that should go to the charity!!!


the cheeky b******s!  charging for an account that is for a charity is pretty low. I know the banks have to make money some how but it just seems unfair


----------



## Amethyst (Jun 16, 2010)

Well done for trying to help 

Rescue work can become complex, demanding and very expensive, so hopefully you have money put aside for emergencies!

Always best in my thoughts to do some voluntary work with an established rescue before even thinking about running your own, maybe you have done so, if you have it will prove invaluable!


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

Amethyst said:


> Well done for trying to help
> 
> Rescue work can become complex, demanding and very expensive, so hopefully you have money put aside for emergencies!
> 
> Always best in my thoughts to do some voluntary work with an established rescue before even thinking about running your own, maybe you have done so, if you have it will prove invaluable!


I'm not new to rescue work, having been a foster carer for a few  That why I have a good idea what forms I need. We have 17 rats and 5 mice of our own, I'm used to what costs are involved so we've planned for that too.


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

And just for illustration, thats nearly £100 spent to day on an emergency vet visit for one of our own


----------



## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

ceretrea said:


> And just for illustration, thats nearly £100 spent to day on an emergency vet visit for one of our own


Oh no, who was ill? Are they ok now?


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

Got a thread 'Nasty Shock'. It was one of our own, being rather dramatically ejected from the group :/


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

Just for info, Barclays do a community account that charges no fees and does not require an opening amount. I'm waiting for the paperwork to come through on that one


----------



## debs9019 (Feb 7, 2010)

ceretrea said:


> Right well, to cover yourself legally, you need a handover form for whomever hands their animals into you. Then you need a homecheck form, rehoming application and rehoming contract. Then there's invoices and receipts from the vets, bank statement, and the forms for the HMRC. Any charity that has less the £5000 income per annum registers only with HMRC. Over that and you need to register with the charities commission who require you to then have a committee, a constitution, AGM's and accompanying minutes.
> 
> You need to keep all your emails from applications etc too.
> 
> Its all been a 'bit' of a learning curve. I've seen too many rescues get stung because they missed a bit of paperwork so I'm covering all the bases


i never knew that =| i knew about the homecheacks, how do u all the other things i would be very greatful i do my rescue from home.


----------



## ceretrea (Jan 24, 2011)

I use forums that have networks of volunteers to homecheck and such. I've typed up the various forms from rescues who've agreed to let me use theirs.

Bank account as above. You can get the forms for HMRC from the website. If you want to know more pm me and I will see if I can help x


----------

