Barby Keel Animal Sanctuary: Everything’s going to the dogs… and the other animals

Words by Grace Latter

Photos by Caitlin Lock

Yes, it's Barby Keel - the 90-year-old woman who l am quite confident in calling a local legend and fully-fledged superhero. She has owned and run her non-profit charity in Bexhill since 1971; a sanctuary providing homes for abused, abandoned and unwanted animals.

The sanctuary's mission is laid out simply for everyone who enquires; they provide a refuge for lost or rejected animals and fowl of all kinds. They strive to find permanent and loving homes for the animals when possible, and any which can't be re-homed for whatever reason are given a permanent home there. All the animals receive medical treatment, and any care they require. The last line of the mission statement on their website is firm and strong - 'Barby Keel never puts any animal down, unless it is absolutely necessary to prevent needless suffering’.

Today Caitlin and I are led into the sanctuary and greeted by a swarm of excitable chickens before we find the icon herself tucked away in the cats’ house - where she just so happens to live, too. I later learn that she had approximately 160 cats on the premises, and I ask how she could possible narrow it down which ones she wants to keep and coexist with rather than offer them up for adoption.

‘Oh, they pick me,’ she laughs. ‘And then let me live with them.’

Coming from a family half-from Bexhill, I have known of Barby's legacy of kindness from a very young age and visited her rescue centre numerous times throughout my childhood - my Grandma left what few pennies she could spare to the cause when she passed. I'll tell her this today as we sit on wet garden furniture and let curious cats climb all over us as we talk.

Barby is very keen to put her trustees - and animals - in front of the camera at every opportunity, rather than herself. Not because she's camera shy, necessarily, more because she wants to share the spotlight with those closest to her. And as we sit and chat, she has one ear out for her colleagues in the kitty kitchen, often calling over to offer her help or ask them to recall or confirm something when answering one of my questions. The caring community spirit is present and overflowing.

I get the facts first; they started in 1971 with nothing but a field. Barby helped build the house, planted every tree, and shaped the sanctuary over these many decades.

When I started, it was just a bare field. Not a tree, not a building. We built everything... I've done cementing, tiling, all sorts - you have to, when it's for the animals.'

Talking with the woman herself about the history of the safe haven is inspiring, but it's even more interesting to find out what challenges the place is facing these days, and how its furry occupants come to reside there. A big talking point for Barby is homelessness - for humans as well as their pets. She expresses her concern and upset about people being evicted because landlords want to sell their properties, and how families who've rented for years will often be unable to take their pets with them when theyre forced to leave thier homes suddenly. Barby regularly receives calls from people in tears, forced to give up animals they've had for a lifetime, either because they're leaving a home and have no guarantee when they'll find another, or they've been told their new residence won't accept pets.

I just want people to be able to keep their animals. That's my dream - helping with food and vet bills so they don't have to give them up.

Barby casually jokes about getting lucky on the lottery, if only she'd buy a ticket. When asked what she'd do if she won the jackpot, she tells me she'd pour more than half her winnings into the sanctuary, and the rest she'd use to support people in caring for their pets; 'I just want people to be able to keep their animals. That's my dream — helping with food and vet bills so they don't have to give them up.'

I ask Barby how much vet bills cost the sanctuary. She tells me they recently paid £9,000 over just six weeks. Apparently rising costs are driven up by large companies buying veterinary practices, and priorities have changed; 'in the old days, your vet came out at night because they cared. Now you need £75 upfront before anyone arrives, she says, sadly.

I'm anxious to ask Barby what plans she has in place for when she can no longer serve the sanctuary. She's 90 years old, after all. I phrase it as delicately as possible, but she answers very matter-of-factly; everything she owns will go to the animals. New, younger trustees are being brought in to protect the sanctuary's future.

When I go, everything I've got goes to the animals. The trustees will keep it going — that's very important to me.

The entire time we've been talking, Barby has kept referring to the Rainbow Bridge. She says I must see it - she tells Caitlin too, wandering around with her camera, being passed

between trustees and shown every little corner of the grounds. As I stop recording, I ask her to show me. We walk around the large pens and up a short path to find a rainbow mural that leaps off the brick wall in its vibrancy, and seems to brighten everything around it. I understand immediately how much it means to the chief rescuer and her community. She says to me through happy tears, 'when [our animals] die, they go over the Rainbow Bridge into a field where all their pain goes, too. They wait for you there.'

The Sanctuary, its vegan cafe and shop are open 1-4pm every Sunday, April - October. There is free parking available and even a free minibus which picks up from the stops outside Bexhill Town Hall at 1:00pm, Sidley car park at 1:10pm and leaves the sanctuary at 3.30pm for the return journey.

The sanctuary hosts annual events in the summertime, including a Big Open Day (aka the Summer Fete), and a Vegan Fayre. According to Barby, the community support shown at these events is invaluable, and keeps them going - not just financially, but spiritually too.

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If you want to show support (and get some exquisite trinkets) head to the Barby Keel Charity Shop at: 17 St Leonards Rd, Bexhill-on-Sea TN40 1HH (closed on Wednesdays)

Barby Keel Animal Sanctuary: Pipzedene, Freezeland Ln, Sidley, Bexhill-on-Sea TN39 5JD

Barbykeelanimalsanctuary.org