Scotland’s largest equine sanctuary is facing closure within months in the face of a £300,000 financial crisis.
Mountains Animal Sanctuary, in the Angus glens north of Forfar, is home to over 120 horses, ponies and donkeys from all over the country. But with winter fast approaching there are fears it may not be able to beat the harsh financial climate which has taken it to the brink of collapse.
The sanctuary has been in financial turmoil since the death of its founder, Kent man Alan Fraser, last October. It was recently revealed Mr Fraser left Mountains £1.4 million in his will.
While it was a major boost, the legacy is predominantly made up of the value of property and land at the 260-acre Glenogil estate and allows them to remain where they are.
However, the sanctuary costs £400,000 a year to run, which had been met in full while Mr Fraser was alive. That has been replaced with a £100,000 guaranteed annual income from a trust set up by the one-time motor racer to contribute to the care of Mountains’ equine residents. The release of that crucial funding will still leave the sanctuary seeking £300,000 a year and officials admit time is running out.
In a last-ditch attempt to try to extend the operation into next year, the management revealed plans to cut more than a quarter of its 14 full-time employees in a staffing review.
General manager Pam Taylor said: “Alan Fraser was extremely generous to Mountains and it was his dearest wish that our work of helping horses in need be continued after his death.
“We are very appreciative of the £1.4 million gift although its true impact is limited, with little bearing on our cash flow or running costs, as the majority of the gift is in the value of the land and buildings from which we operate.
“Our priority now is to restructure to try to keep the sanctuary open for as long as we can, while urgently seeking donations from new supporters.”
She continued: “We are cutting our costs to adjust to our lower income but, with less than four months of funds in the bank, time is running out. We urgently need financial help and I would call on existing and potential supporters to consider what they might do to help us.”
She added: “This year we have had a number of successes in rehoming animals and we have lost a few to old age so the numbers at Mountains were much higher. We believe that if we can get through the winter we can turn the situation around but we need to have enough of a cushion to help us do that.”
The sanctuary is also desperately hoping there will be no repeat of last year’s big freeze, which saw feed costs rocket and stretched staff to the limit as they fought the snows to look after the animals.
In the last year alone, Mountains has received over 300 calls and emails from owners who can no longer look after horses.
The sanctuary has had to close its doors to non-welfare cases while it secures long-term funding and recruits volunteers to look after the animals.
Retired race horses, rare breeds, former cart-horses and retired riding horses for the disabled have all arrived at Mountains over the last 29 years, firstly in Kent where Mr Fraser established the sanctuary before moving north in the early 1990s.
The Dayzee appeal, launched following Mr Fraser’s death, has so far raised £12,000 towards the centre’s future.