Joy finds her forever home

Joy, the 57th dog The Golden Kobe Family have fostered in Britain, has been adopted, as the family prepare for their move to the US and Santerpaws Bulgarian Rescue races to raise £50,000 to buy the land its sanctuary stands on.

One of the UK’s best-known animal-rescue YouTube channels is celebrating a happy ending for one of its final British rescues. Joy, a dog rescued by Santerpaws Bulgarian Rescue, has found her forever home after being fostered by The Golden Kobe Family, and the family are continuing to help highlight the small, volunteer-run charity behind her, in a partnership to secure a permanent future for more than 150 rescued dogs.

The Golden Kobe Family, the hugely popular rescue-dog channel with nearly 870,000 subscribers on YouTube alone, whose heart-warming videos have been watched over 120 million times, have now received their visas and will relocate to the United States in the coming weeks, where they hope to help even more dogs. Joy, the 57th dog they have fostered in the UK and one of their very last before the move, had her very own mini-series, with viewers following her week by week as she settled in and searched for a family of her own.

Joy is now enjoying life in her forever home in the UK, and has her own Instagram account, @joythebulgarianrescue, where supporters can keep up with her new adventures.

The collaboration came about after Karen Sharkie, the charity’s volunteer fundraising co-ordinator, was moved by the family’s “Fostering 30 Dogs in 30 Days” series and approached them to ask if they might help shine a light on Santerpaws. Karen has been fundraising for the charity for seven years and, together with her small team of fundraisers, has raised more than £95,000. The result is a profile boost for a cause that, until recently, relied almost entirely on the goodwill of its supporters.

A sanctuary on borrowed ground

For around a decade, Santerpaws has run its Bulgarian sanctuary, built entirely through public donations, on rented land. The charity now has the chance to buy that land outright and guarantee the dogs a permanent home, but must raise £50,000 to do so. Without it, the future of more than 150 rescue dogs hangs in the balance.

So far, around £20,000 has been promised in pledges towards the £50,000 target, a hugely encouraging start, but the charity must keep fundraising both for the remaining sum and until those pledges are safely in hand. Time is running out, but the volunteer team are determined to keep going, trusting that the right support will appear before it is too late.

Since 2015 the charity has helped more than 7,800 dogs find loving homes, all without a single member of paid staff. Joy’s mini-series, her successful adoption and the exposure the Golden Kobe partnership brings are helping drive the land appeal to a far wider audience than the charity could ever reach alone, and the family are continuing to back the appeal as they prepare for their move.

A growing family of supporters

The Golden Kobe partnership is the latest in a run of new support for the charity. Karen has also secured a partnership with social media content creator Maisy Greensmith of Maisocial, who has donated her time and expertise to capture Santerpaws’ biggest fundraising event of the year, Paws in the Park, giving the charity, whose volunteers are usually run off their feet on the day, its first real chance to show supporters the event in all its glory.

The charity is also backed by Astral Ltd, the firm where Karen works, as one of its chosen charities of the year, and has gained the support of dog supplement brand Pawable and The Cornish Barkery, a homemade natural dog-treat bakery in Cornwall, the county the charity’s founder originally hails from.

“We’ve never minded who we work with or where the dogs come from. As long as we can help some dogs together, we’re happy to work with anyone. Joy’s getting on great: she’s house trained now and loves being in the house, and though she’s still a bit skittish we’re doing lots of confidence building with her,” said Jeremy of The Golden Kobe Family, speaking while Joy was in their care.

“I’ve followed JJ and Ella’s channel since their 30 dogs in 30 days fostering challenge. They are truly inspiring, and we’re so grateful to have the chance to work with them, and for them giving Joy a chance,” said Karen Sharkie, Volunteer Fundraising Co-ordinator at Santerpaws Bulgarian Rescue.

The charity is urging animal lovers, businesses and content creators alike to get behind the appeal, whether by donating, sharing Joy’s story, or offering their own support.

Could you help save the sanctuary?

Follow Joy’s story: https://www.youtube.com/@thegoldenkobefamily and instagram.com/joythebulgarianrescue

Support the land appeal: https://gofund.me/b29c51442

Charity website: www.santerpawsbulgarianrescue.com

“Since 2015 the charity has helped more than 7,800 dogs find loving homes.” (Santerpaws Bulgarian Rescue)

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