Dog Rescue Cyprus – UK Team
Please meet the team that head up the UK adoption process of dogs from Independent rescue shelters across Cyprus and provide ongoing support to our adopter families and our UK foster network. To see all the rescue shelters we support please see our About Us page.
Visit out Adopter Reviews to see what our current adopters has to say about us.
Meet the team leader – Jan Appleby
Jan Appleby
Rescue Team Leader UK and co-founder of Saving Souls Animal Rescue.
Jan is an undisputed master at matching dogs with the right homes. You only need to see the amount of success stories she has had to know that.
Jan has over 10 years experience placing dogs from Cyprus into loving UK homes. She has been trustee for the charity DRC (Dog Rescue Cyprus). Jan re-formed Saving Souls Animal Rescue to support the independent rescuers.
Meet the team – Vaso Mixail
Vaso Mixail
Rescue Team Leader Cyprus and co-founder of Saving Souls Animal Rescue
Vaso looks after the dogs who we have in kennels in Cyprus. She is responsible for taking on some of the most desperate cases, loving and nurturing them and turning them into wonderful, trusting and loving dogs. Dogs that other rescues have shunned because they were deemed beyond help.
Vaso co-founded Saving Souls Animal Rescue over 10 years ago along with Jan Appleby and now they are in a position to help other small independent rescue shelters find loving homes for their dogs in the UK.
Meet the team – Marianne Streather
Marianne Streather
Website designer and communications assistant
“I first found out about Saving Souls Animal Rescue when I was looking for a rescue dog after my old dog passed away. I was determined to save a soul, but found that I was not a desirable home to most UK charities with a cat and young son. Then I stumbled across Saving Souls on Facebook and got in touch with Jan Appleby. I adopted Lucy, aged 11 in November 2020 and she has settled into our family amazingly. Lucy had been in rescue for 8 years and I want to help other dogs like her find a loving home.”
Meet the team – Emily Woffindin. She is increasing our following through her social media posts and promotions.
Emily Woffindin
Social Media Posts and and Graphic Design
I have been involved in supporting and volunteering for animal rescues since early 2020 when COVID-19 really took a toll. I noticed how badly the pandemic had affected small animal organisations like Saving Souls and I knew I had to do something to help. I’ve been working within the marketing and graphic design sector for around 5 years now, so decided I could utilise my skills in that area to help out where I could. I decided to reach out to Saving Souls after following them on Facebook for a while. Since March 2021 I have been supporting the team with social media posts and anything graphic design related. I have two cats myself, who unfortunately don’t get along too well with dogs, otherwise I would have a house full of them!
Meet the team – Hannah Heaven
Hannah Heaven
Communications Leader
I started my search for a dog to rescue in 2020 after losing my previous fur baby in 2017, just a couple of weeks after my human baby was born. I was determined that I would not buy a puppy when there are so many dogs needing homes. I didn’t have any intentions of rescuing from abroad until I realised that almost all the rescues in the UK only re-home their dogs with older children. I continued my search for a couple of months and couldn’t find any rescue in the UK that would home a dog with me, despite being an experienced dog owner, home owner with secure garden and working from home part time (even before COVID).
My sons age was always an issue – he was 3 at the time. I stumbled across Saving Souls when I saw a shared post on Facebook for a dog that was starved so severely he couldn’t stand up. I enquired about this dog initially but he didn’t have any experience with children so he wasn’t suitable for me. Then I saw a dog that was identified as being good with children and I applied for her. When waiting for her flight, another dog was promoted and he too was identified as being good with children. I now have both of these dogs with me and they have become a massive part of the family. I didn’t know how dogs were mistreated in Cyprus until I got involved with Saving Souls. My girl had been in kennels for two and a half years and I am determined that she will never be in a kennel ever again. Both of my dogs have many scars and cower if I move too quickly or raise my hands for something. I want to help as many dogs as possible to find a better life in the UK after what is usually a terrible start in Cyprus.
Sarah visiting one of the shelters in Cyprus, pictured here with Roza who went on to be adopted in the UK
Sarah Higgins
Fund-raiser extraordinaire!
I’ve been involved in rescue for over 6 years now after helping a friend deliver dogs that arrived in the UK from Cyprus which had been adopted. I was really saddened to learn of their fights for survival.
I took a flight to Cyprus to visit thd rescue and it was unbearable to see so many abandoned dogs that it made me want to help out more.
My main role has mainly been fundraising to get ‘long term caged’ dogs on to freedom flights and in to the UK to be closer to potential families to give them a chance to have a better life.
I have 2 rescues of my own, Bailey is from the RSPCA and Annie is from Cyprus! I was only meant to be fostering Annie after her adoption fell through whilst she was on her freedom flight. With no where to go, the plan was just to take her for a few days whilst we worked out what to do! I failed miserably as a foster mum and we adopted her less than a week later!
Lucy and Saved Soul Ozzy, who waited 5 years at Stray Haven in Cyprus before Lucy adopted him
Lucy Shepherd
Facebook Admin and Legal Support
Like so many of our team, Lucy has adopted a dog through Saving Souls Animal Rescue and having been through such a wonderful experience and appreciating how wonderful the dogs are who are waiting for homes, want to contribute to helping more dogs find homes.
Lucy helps out with the administration of our Facebook group and answers potential adopters questions and directs them to the right place.
“I’ve loved dogs all my life and rescuing 6-year-old Ozzy fulfilled a lifelong dream. Saving Souls was so supportive in finding the right dog for me. I wanted to give back by helping other people experience the joy that I have bringing my boy home.”
Chissie Phillips
Facebook Auctions Organiser
Chrissie runs our highly successful regular Facebook Auctions. These bring in much needed revenue to support the dogs under our care. We always have a few dogs in private kennels in Cyprus and the UK that we need to pay kennel fees, food and medical bills for, and these auctions provide the much needed funds.
Ang Vowels
Ang has been successfully organising the home checks of our potential adopters for years. We could not function without Ang’s help with this. Every dogs’ welfare is paramount to us so her work to ensure each adopter is home checked and approved first to ensure the dog is going to a safe and loving home is vital.
Emma Bryant
Instagram and Marketing
Emma runs our Instagram Account and provides much needed direction into our marketing campaigns to secure donations.
Emma also puts together our beautiful Saved Souls Annual calendars we have for sale at the end of each year. These help us raise valuable funds for the rescue to be able to continue to save and rehome more dogs, whilst also giving us and our supporters a chance to celebrate the work we have down throughout the year and the dogs whose lives have been changed for the better.