About Best Friends Animal Rescue

Hi, my name is Jeane Howes and I am the founder of Best Friends Animal Rescue.  A little bit of background of how this dog rescue group came into being…

As a child, I lived in the north of England in the late 1960s.  There were lots of stray dogs and my mother used to send me out with bags of bones to feed the hungry dogs. As some of these dogs would follow us home, they became part of the family and lived with us until their dying day.  I always said to my mum that when I grew up I would buy a big house and she could fill it with stray dogs.  Well that never happened in England. After travelling for many years, I made Perth my permanent home in 1996.  I volunteered at a couple of rescue centres for 5 years on weekends, working full time during the week.  It was very clear to me that there were many more dogs needing someone to help and rescue them. I was always finding dogs who were wandering the streets because they were lost and/or homeless.  To help with my strong desire to make a difference to these sad and sorry dogs, I did some training in vet nursing and animal behaviour.

Jeane Howes

Getting started

Finally in 2006 I started Best Friends Animal Rescue Inc. My mother got a year’s visa and came to Perth to help me. I bought a house on 5 acres with a large living area, a bit run down, but we didn’t care as long as we had somewhere that we could look after the homeless dogs. I had 14 dogs at the time, but it was a very quiet, peaceful house and the dogs knew that were cared for. My mother just loved it and was so pleased with the changes I could make to an animal’s life. My mother came again for another year, and I couldn’t have done it without her. When she went back to England she was always talking about the dogs.

Now Best Friends Animal Rescue has a network of volunteers who foster the dogs, providing a loving and safe place until a suitable permanent home is found.

So far Best Friends Animal Rescue have re-homed over 700 dogs, mostly the older dogs that are the most difficult to find a new forever home. As many of our dogs come with specific dietry requirements or allergies, all meals are prepared on premises using only fresh meat and vegetables. Our future is to set up an elderly dog rescue and retirement in the hills, to give a lasting, happy final home for the really old or sick to enjoy their final years.