Readers will know that we have recently lost our beloved dog, Murphy, and our grief goes on. So to visit what I thought would be a charity full of beautiful dogs and cats with pleading eyes begging me to take them home might be a heartbreaking experience. However, I went and was so delighted I did as I discovered something I can’t believe I knew nothing about.
Raystede was founded in 1952 by Mabel Raymonde-Hawkins, who was responding to the glut of animals left behind when US service staff returned home. Since then, it has grown and developed into one of the most diverse rescue centres in the UK. They care for around 400 vulnerable animals at any one time on their 43-acre site just outside Ringmer. The moment you walk in you realise you are a guest in the animals’ world, not the other way round.
I expected the centre to be driven by the need to care for and save animals, but what I did not realise was the role they played in preventing murders too. Research and survivor reports consistently show that many domestic abuse victims delay leaving or even permanently remain in dangerous circumstances because they are trying to protect their pets. Abusers know this and they cruelly exploit that bond, using it as a further control lever. That can manifest itself in many ways. For example, abusers may threaten to hurt or give away animals if the victim leaves. In some cases, they’ve already hurt the pet as proof of their threats. They and the survivors know that many shelters cannot accept animals, so leaving can feel like a choice between personal safety and protecting a beloved companion.
Understandably, many survivors see their pets as the sole emotional lifeline they have, their only source of comfort and unconditional love. Worse still, they have the very real fear that it is the animal who will suffer if they leave.
Therefore, when I witnessed Raystede’s incredible Break Away scheme, which helps people fleeing domestic abuse (or those spending time in hospital) by providing temporary pet care, it was clear they were saving lives on a daily basis. Stephanie Smith, CEO of Raystede, says: “Since 2009 when we set the scheme up we’ve helped two-hundred-and-fifty-four people and three-hundred-and-twenty-nine animals.” I am living proof of what she goes on to say about it being a service people don’t always realise they offer but their ability to help is only hampered by a constant need for foster carers to meet the burgeoning demand.
Helen (not her real name) and her family had firsthand experience of the Break Away scheme when escaping a horribly abusive father. She said: “When we left, our animals were the first thing we got out. The cats went to Cats Protection Lifeline; the dogs went to Dogs Trust Freedom Project—but nowhere would take the rabbits; I would have stayed there forever to keep them safe. We couldn’t turn up to the council with our suitcases and a car full of animals. Everywhere would’ve turned us away.”
Raystede stepped in and took the rabbits (they would have taken the cats and dogs too) and once the family were safe and settled they were reunited, the only difference now being that they and their animals are no longer at risk of abuse.
This incredible public service is, like so many, dependent on the goodwill of all of us be it from donations or by becoming foster carers. Owing to the nature of the scheme, Break Away foster carers are often called upon to help with little advance notice and so Raystede need fosterers who don’t mind looking after an animal under these circumstances.
Raystede are always on the lookout for those able to play this vital part in protecting vulnerable people and animals from violence and cruelty.
So, if you are in a position to open your heart and your home to a foster dog, cat, or small animal, why not contact Raystede?
I originally wrote this for my weekly column in The Argus, published on Monday, 9 February 2026.
