Assisi Animal Sanctuary

This sanctuary does such a good job caring for and rehoming unwanted animals. It’s a definite spot to go if you’re looking, a dog, cat, rabbit or guinea pig, and sometimes they have small animals like hamsters or gerbils. The gift shop has some lovely items and the money is going towards the upkeep of the sanctuary and caring for the animals, so it’s good to buy a few things. The sanctuary regularly organise events to fundraise. Keep an eye out for them doing street collections, and they sometimes have fairs and cake sales in the sanctuary.

I love Assisi — it is such a good cause. They will take in any animal they have room for, and operate a strict No Kill policy, which is fantastic and so important, because why should a pet have to pay just because their owner can no longer look after them.
Assisi is well run by a team of staff and volunteers, and they are widely supported by the local community in Bangor and far beyond.
They strictly vet any person adopting an animal, and do house visits before and after the animal is adopted, to ensure that they have gone to a good home.
One complaint I have, and I stongly suspect that this is an isolated incident, but I feel that I should mention it anyway:
My parents adopted a dog from Assisi last year, and before they brought him home, they were assured that he was friendly with cats. They brought him home, and as he was settling in, my parents elderly cat wandered into the room, the dog absolutely leapt at the cat with aggression I have never seen before and attacked her.
Needless to say, the dog had to go back, which left us feeling a bit let down by their system.

I’ll probably shed a wee tear during the writing of this review, purely because a) I’m a bit gushy.
b) It reminds me of a previous story of a certain beloved cat (mentioned in my review of Gortlands Vets if you’re interested).
c) It has a happy ending (the review that is).
When I was younger, my parents, my sister and I would head up to Assisi nearly every weekend, bringing cat food and treats for the, well, cats. We spent all afternoon with the cats in particular, playing with them, watching them, seeing how things were done. We also paid a visit to see the dogs, guinea pigs and rabbits, but it was with the cats that are hearts lay.
Two years after loosing our first puss, my mum, dad and sister decided to go to Assisi to select a new one. After a great deal of thought, they chose Nutmeg, a beautiful tortoiseshell and blue whose owner had died a couple of months before, and arranged to pick her up the next week. Assisi don’t ask for payment, but you can make a donation, and the cats are all neutered and have undergone recent veterinary checks, so we only paid a small amount to help fund the animal shelter.
Six months later, and Nutmeg is very much one of the family. Assisi do a fantastic job with all the animals, and we are very thankful we were able to help them out by homing a cat. Aww, knew I’d cry…