Katrina Thompson lovingly refers to her own dogs as her “angels”.

Vada’s Angels Animal Rescue Tauranga gets its name from these angels.

“Nevada (Vada) was my old dog and she was the main pack leader. I have five of my own personal dogs and they are the angels ... I couldn’t do this job without them,” Thompson said.

Nevada and Memphis (all named after American states and cities) were the originals helping to socialise rescued dogs. Now Thompson has Dakota, Dallas, New Haven, Las Vegas and Nashville who all have a role at the rescue.

“They play a huge part. We use them for testing a lot of the pound dogs we get who need to be accessed for rehoming. They build their confidence up, they’re the ones that show them everything is okay.”

Thompson and Tash Pearce rescue all animals in need, including horses, on the 10-acre (4ha) property in Whakamārama. They currently have 14 horses.

Pearce looks after equine and Thompson concentrates on pooch care.

There are currently 25 rescue dogs at the property with about another 50 in foster care (about 95% of their dogs are from the dog pounds).

Financial cost

Last month Thompson and Pearce made the hard decision to close the doors to new intakes due to their numbers and veterinary bills. More than 50 dogs and puppies came to the property in March alone.

Vada’s was in the red by $16,800. They posted a plea on Facebook saying they were “drowning” and asked for help. The plea generated $10,000 in community donations.

“The financial burden is just overwhelming. We only run on donations. A lot of people see us as a big rescue due to our numbers and think we must be being paid, but no one is paid here. There’s a lot that we fund ourselves.”

Thompson said the problem of unwanted dogs and puppies is the worst it has ever been. Not desexing animals and the costs involved has seen “explosive amounts of puppies”, she says.

Vada’s Angels undertakes community desexing.

“We’re seeing families who would normally desex their animals struggle with costs. We’ve definitely seen a rise in older dogs being surrendered due to families just not having the funds to care for them.”

Animal rescue

Vada’s Angels rescue from three local pounds, provide foster homes or training at the farm and organise adoptions.

Thompson and Pearce are grateful for their many foster homes and volunteers. They have about 45-50 foster parents who take in dogs to care for while forever homes are being found.

Every day the dogs are trained in dog etiquette and exercised in groups on the sprawling farm.

Many are from heartbreaking circumstances such as Blaze (pictured) who was beaten blind and requires ongoing care but is thriving in his new home as a permanent guest.

All the dogs sleep indoors in crates.

“We have them inside because we want them to have that home experience, I don’t see the point of rescuing them and then keeping them outdoors,” Thompson said.

Visit vadasangels.org for more information and to donate.