A Wigton woman is raising money to rescue dogs from horrific conditions in Sri Lanka.

Rachel Schofield who set up Help Hikkaduwu Strays in 2013, is continuing to make a difference in Sri Lanka.

Her project focusses on neutering stray dogs and cats in the area and bringing those at risk back to the UK.

She is now raising money to bring back further dogs in the New Year.

Rachel explained: “I am definitely bringing one back, but potentially another two if I can raise enough funds to bring them back. One has the most horrific neck injuries and tiny.

“Then there is the mum who was dumped in the bus station at Hikkaduwu, which is on a really, really busy main road. She was heavily pregnant, so she wouldn’t have been accepted by any of the local packs.”

She continued: “We are doing a lot of work together with the dog clinic, they have agreed to put her in a nursing bay. Two days later, she gave birth to seven puppies.

“The puppies are fine, it is what to do with mum, because we can’t integrate mum on the streets safely because she is a brand new dog and will be attacked.

“Money dependant, she’ll come as well. She was never wanted even as a pup, so now she is an adult she went into foster care with a lady who had 16 dogs, so she’d never been on the streets.”

“Her passport will be ready in March, I have a home for her. A lady is going to do a huge fundraiser for me in Runcorn. They are going to do an animal party.”

How does she get the dogs back to the UK?

“If we bring three, the cheapest way to do it is to get them to Germany, which is 500 euros. I know a German lady, the German people are huge animal lovers and they do a lot of support work with and for us.

“This lady does all the organising, but last time we had problems in Amsterdam so we are going to miss out Amsterdam this time. She will organise transport from Germany to Amsterdam to the ferry port, or we will drive from Amsterdam to Germany.”

Rachel added: “If there is one, I will look at the cost difference of having a flight direct because if it’s only a couple of hundred pounds more than booking a ferry then I’ll do that, because it takes a couple of days out of our working day.”

Is it helping?

“We are definitely making a difference, because the volume of animals that are coming into care now are huge. The problem itself is never ending.

“In March time, a lady is going to come with a whole team of vets, spend five days in Hikkaduwa and she will stay and neuter 70 animals per day for five days. That should make a significant difference on the numbers, but the problems are still there in Hikkaduwa.

“But without us there is no one, so at least there’s a port of call. It is little steps at a time.

To donate to the charity, visit www.helphikkaduwastrays.com