About Us

OUR OBJECTIVE

To promote humane behaviour towards dogs in the UK and in Macedonia and Romania by providing appropriate care, protection, treatment, safe shelter and security for dogs in need of care by reason of mistreatment, abandonment, poor circumstances or ill usage.

To actively seek homes for rescued animals and advance public understanding of dog welfare by providing training support to adopters.

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who we are

Doggy Dens UK Rescue

Denise Hardwick-Akbani

FOUNDER

I am a local businesswoman and dedicate my time to caring for abandoned, neglected, and injured dogs. My goal is to rehabilitate, train, and find their forever homes. I've been rescuing since 2018 and have successfully rehomed over 500 dogs during this period.

I have a particular love for Labradors. I have four dogs, three of which are rescues from Romania.

Karen Carter

TRUSTEE

I am one of the trustees, Karen Carter. I've been rescuing dogs from Romania and placing them in homes since 2018, rehoming over 500 dogs. Currently, I own two Romanian dogs, Nutmeg and Holly.

I will assist in the rehoming process for the dogs we rescue from Romania, ensuring proper medical testing is conducted and transport arrangements are set correctly.

Denise Ramsell

TRUSTEE

I'm Denise, a trustee for our charity. Since 2016, I've been dedicated to rescuing dogs. I play an active role in managing our charity, from rehoming dogs to supporting our team.

My personal life mirrors this passion; I have five cherished dogs at home—three from Romania, one from Serbia, and a special needs pup from the UK. Their stories fuel my commitment daily.

Behind every successful dog rescue, there are dedicated individuals who pour their hearts and souls into making a difference in the lives of our four-legged friends.

Our incredible men and women who volunteer their time and passion help form a close knit team doing the practicalities of dog care, training and rehabilitation.

who we are

Volunteers

If you feel you would like to dedicate some time to volunteering to work within our kennels, please note the requirements. You must be:

18 years of age or older
Fit and active
Confident being around and handling dogs
Have the willingness to get involved in all aspects of care including walking, feeding, cleaning, training, poop scooping etc.
Reliability to commit to a rota, time and days varies.

Please note we work on a traffic light system for dogs able to be handled by certain members. This is a strict safety policy and needs to be adhered to at all times for your safety and the safety of our dogs. Anyone found to be not adhering to this will result in possible dismissal.

Please send us a message with your details, your skills, experience and why you would like to volunteer. A staff member will be in contact with you to discuss a site visit.

To join our team, please contact us for information to arrange an initial site visit and induction. Please note we also require home fosters.

Join the volunteers

Our Work

Frequent visits to Macedonia to work with frontline and veterinary staff have revealed an incredibly desperate and sad situation.

Dogs are suffering immensely.

The level of deprivation and devastation for these dogs is immense and as a rescue, our aim is to lessen and alleviate this suffering by working closely with local vets to treat and rehabilitate dogs to the point of being able to rehome them.

Shown in these images are just some of the illegal dumps in Skopje, Macedonia where dogs are frequently dumped to fend for themselves, large gatherings of dogs ultimately will result in puppies being born into these conditions with little hope of survival.

Our rescue very much will support the spay and neuter campaigns that are frequently run in these countries.