Archive News

2005....2004....2003

18 Sept 2005 - Christmas cards have now arrived ! ... click here to view and order

18 Sept 2005 - a sponsorship form is available on our fundraising page for our sponsored walk - its next Sunday so please hurry and get sponsorship !!!!

01 Sept 2005 - please see our fundraiser page for upcoming events !

10th May 2005 - Oh how our webguy has neglected us ! ... life moves on and everyone is extremly busy, not least all of us here at the sanctuary. Click here for news about "Hardy" our wonder dog who is recovering well from his terrible injury (its on the UCD vet site).

03rd August 2004 - What a wonderful day we had at this years "Fun Dog Show" ... click here to see some pictures !

26th June 2004 - Wow - we are still recovering from our Christmas Party!!! ... click here to read all about it and see some pictures ;-)

21 June 2004 - The day after our very first "Open day" ... many MANY thanks to all our friends who came along to help us bring this dream alive - we had many visitors and raised some badly needed funds for the sanctuary - thank you ALl so very much for coming along to support us. Click here to see some pictures from the day ! ... dont forget we have an "alternative christmas" fundraiser in Bray this coming Friday - please call us for details !

10 June 2004 - What wonderful news - this past weekend, a lovely baby girl "Sophie" was born to Eva and Jeff (Remi & Helenas daughter and son-in-law) . Now Helena is still not to sure about this Internet website business, so she used her technical powers as best she could ... do check out the puppy rehoming page (enough said!!).

09 June 2004 - We have added a list of our upcoming fund-risers ... WOW ! ... an "Alternative Christmas" ... what a great idea and an exciting night promised for all ... click here to see the link.

04 June 2004 - We are having an open day ! ... on the 20th of June from 2pm, DO PLEASE come along to the sanctuary and support us! ... we have Bouncy Castles and treasure hunts for the kids, drinks stands, plants to buy, bric-a-brac to rummage through, teas/coffees, grub for the kids, music ... its gonna be great and the suns gonna shine ! ...

20 May 2004 - No sooner we announced the Nationwide slot, but we were told it has been re-scheduled! ... so it won't be on on Friday night but hopefully soon - we will keep you updated !

19 May 2004 - We are delighted to announce that ASH Rescue will be on TV ! ... tune in to "Nationwide" after the 6 O'Clock news. The film crew were with us some weeks back and we are of course all dying to see how it turns out !

10 May 2004 - We have had the most wonderful weather on and off for the start of this month - we can't wait until Summer kicks in fully ! .... the past week we have rehomed a good number of dogs and work carries on to improve the sanctuary in anticipation of our upcoming "Open day" ... watch this space for more news. After a long lapse, we have another "ASH FILE" ... in this episode, our wrinkly chinese "Sharpai" called "Wammace" has a few words to say. Many thanks to Tricia who came out to walk some dogs this weekend and also helped groom one of our new residants who was in a rather dishevelled state.

05 May 2004 - We received in an email today that we feel deserves a mention:

Dear Remi & Helena, We hope you are keeping well and that all is good.
Im sure you have heard about the mass slaughter which is taking place = right up to the end of may, where 1 million seals must be slaughtered, isnt this so cruel and barbaric. The campaign worldwide is now more than ever determined to stop the hunt, which is why i am organising this rally. I would like to invite you to the rally ARAN is organising outside the Canadian Embassy on the 12th of May which is a wednesday at 1pm. You can really make a difference by being there as the Canadian Embassador to Ireland has to regularly report to the Canadian Prime Minister about this issue. We're sure the seals would love if you could make it for the 1 hour!! So, until then please let everyone else know about this protest too as everyone who cares is welcome.
Thanks again, for your caring commitment.
Mickey

If you are about town, do please drop by and support this cause.

03 May 2004 - Oh we're not doing to badly these days with our website ! .... ok, we have not got many stories added, but boy, are we bang up to date with the photos of animals that need new homes ! .... We have done a huge amount of work about the sanctuary recently ... all buildings have been painted, and a major tidy-up after the winter is almost complete. Here is a picture of the new stable that offers shelter to our equines when the sun runs away and hides:

We *MUST* take this opportunity to thank so VERY much all the volunteers who have come up to the sanctuary recently tohelp walking the dogs - we all appreciate it very much .

22 April 2004 - here were are again, with the best of intentions the website has not been updated to much recently - frankly we are so busy it takes second place. We have to thank so much the volunteers who have been coming out recently to walk the dogs in the sanctuary - we are very very grateful. We received in a letter from "Cuan and Liam" new home - check it out in the letters section. We had a "Friends of ASH" meeting a while back and some good ideas were proposed for fund raising - more information soon. We still of course desperatly need assistance, both physically and financially. We also are trying to raise funds to build an extension on the sanctuary to expand the food preperation and utility area. If you know anyone in the building trade who could help, please have them get in touch with us.

22 March 2004 - its quite some time since we were able to update the website - so many animals in need, so much work to do and so little time. Many thanks to the volunteers who have come to help us out - even one morning every 4..6 weeks means so much to us - please call and drop down for a while ! We have some events coming up - please see the fundraising section. Talking about fundraising - Eibhin, Jodie and Tommy butler held a Tea-Party / Cake sale in aid of ASH - click here to see some pictures - many MANY thanks guys - it is much appreciated.

12 February 2004 - As usual we are busy, in fact, we have never been busier and again have to ask for any help you can give us. We badly need volunteers who can help us on a consistant basis - can you contribute even one morning a week to help us out? ... if you cannot come and help us directly, perhaps you might be able to donate something small on a monthly basis that together with others, would enable us to employ someone on a part-time basis ... remember, every little bit adds up! ... click here to donate monthly online now.

We took in a severely neglected dog a few days ago. This wonderful water spanial girl is also in pup, so she has a lot to go through. We will have her story online soon - in the meantime, here is a picture of the condition she came to us in:

click here for a bigger image
Her coat is extremly badly matted, she was malnourished and in distress - please help us to help her.

04 February 2004 - Last week there was an article by "Karlin Lillington" in the Irish Times newspaper. The main focus of the article was on the sad plight of the many many dogs in "puppy farms" nationally. Karlin also included an article on ASH Rescue. Click here to view the article. (Note: re-published with Karlins permission)

2 Feb 2004 Belated "Happy new year" to you all. The past few weeks have been totally crazy, with more animals coming in all the time ... its all we can do to keep on top of things day by day. We badly need assistance of course, but that goes without saying. We rehomed a good number of dogs so far this year, and met some really lovely new people. This month we also got a new stable erected for the horses and our donkey "Jan" - it was expensive, but very badly needed due to the extremes of cold we are having lately.
We have a new system in place which means we are getting more photos of the animals for rehoming up on a more regular basis, so slowely we are getting back on top of things. We were recently on TV3 again, and as a direct result we rehomed a number of lovely puppies and dogs. We also got a great mention in the Irish Times newspaper - many thanks guys, every little bit helps !!

29 December 2003 - We hope you all had a good holiday season - we are of course, ever busy and will update you soon. There are some new pictures in the adoption seciton, and also the recent homes. Breaking update !! .... Helena & Remi will be on TV3 tomorrow morning (after 8am sometime) to show some lovely dogs for rehoming - TUNE IN !!!!!

19 December 2003 - First of all, apologies for the lack of recent updates - we have been so under pressure coming up to the worst season for unwanted animals in the year. We really want to extend a BIG "Thank You" message for all those people who sent us cards, donations, ordered cards etc - there have been dozens doing one or more of the above. Each one has been received with gratitude and between them, all these people really make a difference, we send a big Ash Hug to you all !

We have a few bits of news to report:

* (16th/Dec) This morning saw a very happy ending to the 8 week stay of the old Yorkie girl that Remi found between Baltinglass and Kiltegan. So far nobody we talked to seemed to her or about her, until this morning her owner showed up, her friend had spoken to one of the people we had told about her. The old girl is 15 years old, lives in Baltinglass and must have followed her owner who was attending a meeting in Kiltegan on the night. There were many tears of happiness and a much appreciated donation for Ash.

* (15th Dec) Tonight, a new rescue mummy "Freddie" had a total of 9 puppies. They are all snug on the topfloor of the 'Tower', not bad for a little dog that found herself homeless on Thursday last.

* Two little dogs came in today through the inspector of the wspca, semi neglect/cruelty
case, they are a brother and sister of about one year old

Finally, last but not least, we have a new ASH File - our lovely old girl "Dutch" tells us about her encounter with a fox and makes a special appeal for Christmas ! Click here to read her story.

29 November 2003 - we had the most enjoyable evening at the ASH November Dinner this past week - there is a report of the dinner in the fundraising section - click here to view it. We had a really great response to our Christmas raffle - we still have some lovely Christmas cards left - contact us if you would like to purchase some.

16 November 2003 - Our "Autumn Fayre" last weekend went extremly well - special thanks to Heather and Jon and all those volunteers who assisted, to the people who contributed goods and of course to all of you who came along to support us ... the funds raised will help us greatly in this worst of seasons for unwanted animals.

12 November 2003 - Today we sent out our second eZine giving an update on the sanctuary and a special call for more "Friends of ASH" - we are delighted to announce that our first "Online donation" took place shortly after the eZine was sent out - we and all the animals at the sanctuary thank you so very much!

8 November 2003 - Our online donation facility is now live !!! ... We have many friends worldwide who have constantly asked us if they can assist the work of the sanctuary by donating a small amount via their credit card each month - thanks to WorldPay we can now provide this facility to all our friends ! Click here to go directly to our online donation section.

7 November 2003 - Look whats on the menu for our November dinner !!! ....

Roast Striploin of Beef with Thyme Gravy Supreme of Chicken with Mushroom and White Wine Sauce Baked Salmon with Saffron and Dill Sauce Vegetarian Stir-Fry with wild Rice ------------------------- Profiteroles and Chocolate Sauce Baileys Cheese Cake Selection of Ice Cream ------------------------ Tea or Coffee

Cost of dinner is 35 Euro. Please let us know if you require a vegetarian meal when booking. Contact Heather 2875347, or Jon 2819198 to book your tickets.

1 November 2003 - Well, another month gone so fast ! ... In October we rehomed quite a number of dogs, puppies and kittens and got a lot of things organised. Our online donation facility is in final testing and should be ready this coming week. We urgently need to sell more raffle tickets - can you help? ... click here if you can buy some tickets, or indeed take a few books to sell to your family, friends or in your workplace. Finally, another ASH File is published today - Spencer (the handsome) has a few words to say !

29 October 2003 - Uncle is starting to get back into the swing of things after a short absense - we have lots of new dogs in for rehoming - see them on the rehoming pages. Some of the dogs who went to new homes are also in the recently homed section. Finally, we are almost completed preparing our online donation section which will allow us to take online credit card donations. Watch this space !

27 October 2003 - Today we received a lovely letter from one of our past residants "Mr. Archer" - click here to read his lyrical words !

25 October 2003 - We are delighted to announce that our Christmas cards for 2003 are now available - click here to view some of the cards and hopefully buy some this festive season! The season would not be complete of course without a good raffle - this year our Christmas raffle has some wonderful prizes - click here to learn more.

21 October 2003 - This weekend was very busy at the sanctuary - we rehomed a number of puppies and had a large number of visitors. Of course the week completed itself with another litter of 6 week old puppies arriving in on our doorstep; they are beautiful black lab types who will be ready for homing soon. That silly sod "uncle" is incapacitated this week so expect delays in updates to the website - other than that, Ernie chirps a few words out in the latest episode of the "ash files...".

12 October 2003 - Today was the final day of our street collection in the nearest town to us, Baltinglass. A number of our volunteers and ourselves collected at Quinns hardware superstore, Spar, Winders service station and Super Valu - Many thanks to the local Garda Superintendent for permission to collect, to the owners, managers and staff of the collection points who supported us and kindly allowed us space to collect, and most of all, to the local people who so very generously supported the sanctuary over the few days - it is so much appreciated - we thank you all very very much. Other news is that we have changed our website server today - many thanks to Andy and the guys in ABCC Computers in the UK for generously hosting the site ... expect to see great things happening now !
Finally, we added another episode of "The ASH Files".... in this episode, "Floss the boss" introduces herself in her own inimitable fashion. Click here to check it out.

03 October 2003 - Finally we got photos of our wonderful art exhibition up on the website !! ... click here to view them. As usual things are hectic at the sanctuary, with dogs coming in and some getting great new homes. As the winter is closing in rapidly, we are trying to get a stable shelter built quickly for our resident horse and donkey. If you are able to donate any supplies to help us out in this, please contact us.

30 September 2003 - Today we added a new section to the website - its called "The ASH Files..." it will be a section that will hopefully chronicle the happenings at the sanctuary from many different viewpoints. Click here to read the first installment !

28 September 2003 - the sun shone on a wonderful day in the foothills of the Wicklow mountains today! ... we brought 12 of the dogs from the sanctuary and people also brought their own dogs. We were quite a sight as we walked what seemed like an endless train of dogs all around this beautiful area. Many thanks to all our supporters - a great day was had by all and some badly needed funds were raised. Click here to see some photos from the walk.

17 September 2003 - Last week was not so good for us - we were overflowing with dogs and everything seemed to conspire against us ... we need more volunteers !!! ... it was also a sad week, two of our own long-time friends passed away. We have so many fond memories of Megan and Basil and miss them terribly. This week started off well - we got such a super home for Dexter, the big boy mastiff cross, we made some new friends and we had a lot of callers. Finally, we have found someone who can help us get our online donation section working - our sincere thanks to "WorldPay" for their very generous donation to the sanctuary. Watch this space, we should have the credit card facility working in the next 2/3 weeks.

10 September 2003 - For the past while the sanctuary has been extremely busy and we have not had a lot of time to update the website - we promise it will be done this week ! ... in the meantime, here is a picture of a most unusual addition to our temporary family ... a wild 'pheasant cock' that was involved in a road traffic accident and brought into us by one of our volunteers. He has been christened "Ernie" !

31 August 2003 - The past few days were very busy .. we received in a lot of new dogs and we rehomed a lot of dogs. Our little girl "Babe", the full of life yorkie who has a terminal illness, has found a wonderful wonderful home to live out her last few months in peace and love - we miss you already Babe !

24 August 2003 - This week, we rehomed crunchie, teddy, katie and bruce, and also our lovely little blue kitten.

22 August 2003 - "Omar" is the latest equine addition to the ASH family. He is a beautiful chestnut - 16 years young, this lovely lad came to us from Maynooth. He was a schooled grade A pony and has now retired to our sanctuary. We will have picture of this wonderful lad online soon.

21 August 2003 - Today was a busy day - among other things, a number of our dogs got neutered and spayed. Neutering and spaying is important to help lower the population of unwanted stray dogs who sadly, not always make it to a sanctuary like ASH. Click here to find out about SpayWeek Ireland, a worthwhile and important initiative started in recent years. Our lovely little shy blue kitten was booked today and will go to her new family on Saturday. Finally, we received a lovely letter from Walter - you will remember our lovely basset boy who was so thin. Click here to read Walters letter to his friends at ASH!

07 August 2003 - Great news, our little Archer, the beagle found a new home today! ... he is now with a wonderful family. We also have another family who booked one of our boxer puppies and rehomed one of our lovely little tabby kittens.

06 August 2003 - We now have our details online so you can become a "Friend of ASH" - please check it out and help us continue our good work !

Fun Dogshow, 03 August 2003 - we had a delightful day out at our first annual ASH "Fun dogshow" at the Greystones Summer Festival. We had over 150 entries across the various classes and everyone of these wonderful dogs was a winner in their own right. Click here to see photos from the show!

29 July 2003
Weehoo! ... Buck, our older basset hound got a lovely new home

24 July 2003
Prince, our big-boy Rottie and Zen our beautiful girl with the underbite found lovely new homes - we will miss them both !

19 July 2003
Today our friends "Walter basset" and "Echo" went to lovely new homes. Echo was indeed here far to long waiting for her new "forever home", but sometimes it takes that little bit longer to match a special dog with a special family. The VERY best of luck Walter and Echo !

11 July 2003
We added a new section"Letters and happy endings" ... do check it out and let us know if you have a nice story to share !

8 July 2003
Our "Princess" gets added to the "Stories" page - please read how she has helped others and see how you can help ASH.

7 July 2003
Derek built us the most wonderful wooden seat that now surrounds our "monkey puzzle" tree in the courtyard - ideal for sitting and enjoying our view on these lovely days we have been having lately! ... if you can donate time or skills to the sanctuary please contact us - help is always very gratefully received !

6 July 2003
Today we had our fundraiser in the National Garden Centre - a small group attended and we spent a pleasant afternoon together - many thanks to all who showed up and gave their support.

26 June 2003
- We have received a large number of new puppies and adult dogs in over the past short while, some got rehomed, some are still waiting for you !

19 June 2003
- We just received 7 three day old boxer x pups, their mother died, so today we are going to see will Princess, our "surrogate mum" will take them under her wings and nurture them.
- A new Basset rescue has arrived in ASH - "Walter" is a most beautiful chap, if a little bit afraid of men. We will have his picture up soon.

19 June 2003
Information on our upcoming fund-raising events now added - check it out here...

11 June 2003
Our new website is created !

3 June 2003
Helena & Remi return from a well deserved break to Scotland where they saw lots of "Harry coos"!! ... welcome back !

31 May 2003
* Philip Baker and a friend help ASH run new electricity lines to our dog runs - many thanks guys !
* Derek & co prepare structures for our new dog runs ... as always, thanks Derek and Linda!