I’m excited to share with you the latest ‘Ways You Can Help’ newsletter from Miracles Mission, a non-profit organisation dedicated to animal welfare. As a proud supporter of their invaluable work, I have obtained permission to post their content on my blog to help spread the word and encourage more people to get involved.
Though this newsletter originates from Miracles Mission, I believe in their mission wholeheartedly and am eager to support them in any way I can. Read on to discover the many ways you can contribute to this wonderful cause.
In this edition you will get to hear about ways you can help our organisation and the animals we help worldwide. You will also hear about some of our new arrivals and animals that will be arriving in their forever homes soon.
You will be introduced to another one of the Vegan Business Owners that supports and donates to our charity on a regular basis. You will get to hear their story and why they believe in assisting the work of Miracle’s Mission.
Our core missions include:
Reducing Numbers of unwanted animals through neutering projects.
Rescuing sick and Injured animals.
Rehabilitating sick, injured and disabled animals.
Responsible Rehoming.
As you can imagine our vets bills are astronomically high!
We need help from committed followers, donors and fundraisers to help us keep reaching animals in need worldwide.
Donating Vegan items for our online auctions.
Bidding and buying in our auctions.
Holding your own fundraising events (Sponsored walks/runs/ climbs, a raffle, a sponsored silence, bake sale) The only limit is your imagination!
Sharing our posts on social media.
Sponsoring an animal as a gift for a friend or loved one.Making a legacy donation in your will.
Setting up a monthly standing order (however small)
Telling friends or family about us.
Sharing our newsletters.
Adopting an animal from us #adoptdontshop
If you think you can do any of the above then please get in touch we would love to hear from you at info@miraclesmission.org
We welcomed Meshmesh the blind cat and Tapas the disabled dog to the UK from Egypt in April. It was our first experience of bringing animals into London Heathrow from Egypt.
Thankfully the animals both arrived safe and well but our team had a VERY stressful 24 hours or so dealing with multiple issues in both Cairo and London.
Unfortunately our agent missed an error in the papers sent from Egypt and we ended up losing a lot of money because of this having to pay a whopping £1900 for the animals to come in the end! Needless to say we wont be using that agent again and lots of lessons have been learned from that flight! We rally ourselves and try again because the animals need us to.
Meshmesh made himself right at home with his new family and has proven to be the 100% love bug we were told he would be!
Tapas is in a foster home while he gets much needed medical treatment and he has been an utter angel throughout. Tapas is looking for a permanent home in the UK. He is dog, cat and people friendly!
Wally is a dog with only 2 fully functioning legs but she gets around really well. She can walk and run and is a lovely bundle of fun. Her adopter has been following her journey in boarding for over 1 year via our socials and recently decided the time was right to adopt her. They passed the home check and interview with flying colours. We hope a wonderful future awaits her in Wales!
SPOILER ALERT, Wally has arrived safely just as this issue has gone to press! She has been renamed Lottie and we will give further updates really soon.
Karamella was abandoned on a chain on a rooftop with no food, water or shelter. She was barking desperately at neighbours in surrounding buildings for help. She had severe cherry eye (a large growth protruding from one eye) Thankfully a rescuer spotted her and managed to get her into her care.
She had surgery on her eye and made a good recovery. Karamella is a happy go lucky girl who gets on well with everyone. She likes both dogs and cats. She weighs around 10kg we are told although she looks quite a bit smaller in pictures and videos!
She would fit into most households and is a lovely happy little soul to have around. She is not yet neutered but this will be done before travel.
Lucky was being sold in a pet store but had been allowed to get into a very weak and emaciated state. A rescuer saw him and got him out of there, nursing him back to full health. He is good with cats and described as a very calm placid cat. He enjoys being petted and groomed. He is neutered and weighs around 5kg.
Neither Lucky or Karamella have a travel fund in place as their rescuers cannot afford to send them to the UK. Yet they stand no chance of being adopted in Egypt. As we are restricted from funding non disabled animals we also cannot fund them. So we need a committed and determined adopter to come forward for each of them, someone who is willing to save up, fundraise and do whatever is required to get their animal to the UK.
The costs are around £900 via the cargo route. It sounds like a lot of money (we know) but people think nothing of spending that on a pretty puppy or kitten, and by adopting these less fortunate animals from aboard you would be giving them a chance at a beautiful life, one that they will NEVER get where they are now.
At 50 years old I was made redundant. At that age, I knew that I wouldn’t get another job as a lawyer. I had 30 years experience and that comes with a price tag, a firm can take a newly qualified lawyer out of law school and pay them peanuts.
I saw a gap in the legal market. Legal aid had been abolished for family law in 2013, except in very specific circumstances. This meant that if people wanted help and advice they would have large hourly rates to pay which could range from £200/hour to £800/hour (plus VAT) depending on where you are in the country. For victims of domestic abuse, so long as they met the government’s legal criteria eg on benefits or extremely low income, they would still get legal aid.
Wealthy people could afford the solicitors fees, but what about those in the middle?? I therefore decided to set up my legal consultancy – Ria Cohen Family Law (www.riacohenfamilylaw.com) and massively undercut those solicitors fees. My fees are £75/hour and I do not charge VAT.
My business has gone from strength to strength. When I first set up the business, I decided that as long as I could feed my beautiful dogs, Ruby and Buddy (Buddy sadly passed in January this year) and pay for their medicines, then I would give part of my profits to animal charities. I am not a greedy person and I am a huge advocate for animal rights, and therefore passionate about helping animals.
I first came across MM when attending a Vegan Fayre in Plymouth. There was a stall there and I bought a bag, tee shirt, pens etc. I was really invested in Miracle’s story and wanted to help this charity. I therefore decided that I would give part of my profits to MM (along with some other animal charities) each year and also via any odd donations and auction bidding.
RCFL sponsors Pearl via MM and we chose her as our workplace mascot something of which I was proud to put on my website. MM logo appears on my website alongside the other animal charities, so any client’s who have been helped by me, and not charged ( as I do offer some free advice on the phone and wont take anyone’s money unless I can add value) can see which charities they can make a donation to if they feel they would like to do so. Also on my website is the picture of the Miracles Mission certificate “Disabled Animal Super Supporter” after helping Rio to get his surgery. It is wonderful how many client’s are delighted when I inform them that part of their fees will be helping unwanted and abused and disabled animals, they see it as giving back and are always delighted to hear it.
RCFL was the Business Award UK winner in 2023 under the Pet and Animal Care award category for making the most positive community impact for supporting animal charities. Obviously I am super proud to support all of the wonderful animals who need it.
I just wish I could save and help every single one of them world wide. I will always do what I can though and MM will always be a supported charity by RCFL.
Approximately 12 years ago I decided to become vegan. I had been vegetarian for many years.
At the time, I was struggling with an eating disorder and was in a rather dark place with it. Initially, I decided to go plant based in order to save on calories. However, from there, I began to research animal welfare and the meat and dairy industry and was appalled and heartbroken with my findings. I immediately decided I would be vegan and my diet entirely plant based. Not only has this help me break the cycle of my eating disorder ( I am now in recovery and doing really well) but I know that I have helped animals, sentient beings, by causing them no harm or cruelty. I cannot bear the thought of any animal suffering or being abused. I am afraid animals mean far more to me than people and there is nothing I wont do for an animal. I have never looked back from being vegan.
I had my yearly bloodwork done with my GP and she said to me “Ria whatever you are doing with your diet and lifestyle, keep on doing it, your bloods are fantastic”. I am 64 years old and have none of the illnesses which would normally be associated with people my age. I consider myself not only extremely fortunate, but put it all down to my plant based diet.
I am an animal rights activist and I am also a volunteer home checker for various animal shelters – some shelters in Romania, Egypt, Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria etc. When someone wants to adopt one of the dogs from there I go and check they and there home are genuine and are the right fit to give a dog a forever home. I am not shy to say “No” either and have had a genuine gut feel about one or two would be owners and not recommended them to adopt the dog.
My gold standard is would I leave my own dog with them? If not then I wont recommend.
In conclusion, it is the mission of Ria Cohen Family Law to continue to support animal charities as much as possible and to spread the word for animal rights and veganism “ Vegan…. Until every cage is empty”.
We greatly admire the important work that Ria does for both humans and animals alike. We feel so blessed and humbled that she has not only noticed what we do at MM but has wanted to support and help us in such a significant way.
Her courage and strength in the face of challenge and adversity is truly inspirational and we hope her ethical, vegan led organisation continues to thrive, as it has done so far.
Luca was in a terrible car accident as a tiny puppy. He was rescued and has made a good recovery, but still walks differently. He then contracted parvo virus and almost died, but against the odds, he survived that too and is now thriving.He may need further assessment and surgery for his leg in the UK which we can fundraise for if needed. He is extremely friendly and loveable with other dogs, adults, children and even cats! He is a super super boy and would make a great edition to any happy family home.
Luca was in foster with his rescuer as a puppy, but is now an adolescent and has been placed into a shelter. He is not happy there as he once knew love and care and now feels abandoned. He craves a home environment and close human contact once more.
His leg is also in a bad state and he needs UK based medical intervention to help improve it.
Toffy was born on the streets. Both he and his sister Angel (now Phoebe) were born congenitally deformed. In Toffy this initially effected one front leg. The leg could not be fixed in Egypt and was causing him pain so it was amputated. He has been in a boarding facility since he was 3 months old.
Toffy is a somewhat nervous/ vulnerable boy. He lives with other dogs now but is more confident with females. He is fine with all dogs as long as they dont jump on him, he knows he is physically weaker and his body hurts.
Toffy also has issues with his hind limbs which have come to light since he got older.
He was diagnosed with Osteoporosis which is somewhat unusual in young dogs.
A pain relief trial was done for 1 month but did not seem to help him according to his carers in Egypt.
He is neutered.
Toffy is child tested and is said to be good with them, we have yet to see this on video but this could be arranged if needed.
He is not cat tested as he is in a dog only facility.
Donating to street and disabled animals in need has never been easier!
Just scan the code! We hope you enjoyed this edition of our monthly newsletter. We thank you for your continued support.
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