Grace'S Rest

Providing advice and education to the public and professionals on exotic pet care and rescue rehabilitation and rehoming of exotic pets in crisis!

Grace's Rest was founded by Clare in 2013 back in her native Lincolnshire with assistance from The Prince's Trust in response to the exotic pet crisis sweeping the UK. Since then this strictly non-profit enterprise has evolved into a purely rescue-oriented organisation with strong campaign goals for positive change within the exotic pet sector.


GRACE'S REST PROVIDES:

We offer advice to prospective, new and existing pet owners on the care and welfare of exotic pets. Advice is freely given via telephone and email communication. A consultation service is available for complex cases which is chargeable on an individually quoted basis.

Our educational outreach services run alongside our fundraising activities. Inspirational speaking and guest lecturing provide vital income for the rescue which is strictly non-profit.

The main bulk of our work is offering rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming to exotic pets in crisis. With the interest in exotic pet keeping some animals will inevitably become homeless for a variety of reasons. Admissions are based on individual need and the availability of suitable accommodation on-site with all animals having access to a specialist exotics vet. Our growing network of fellow professionals include specialists in multiple disciplines who can be consulted for rare, unusual and licensable species. As already mentioned the rescue service is strictly non-profit and relies on public donations and fundraising to survive and receives no government funding.

WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?

* We are STRICTLY non-profit *
All of our fundraising efforts go towards the rescue service and our campaign efforts. Grace’s Rest is run on a fully voluntary basis with not paid or salaried staff.

* We DO NOT use our animals as living fundraising props *
Unlike some other establishments we do not use our animals to solicit donations at public events. This is something that we were encouraged to do in our early days but which was soon rejected and no live animals have been part of any public or private bookings with Grace’s Rest since 2014 for animal welfare and human health and safety reasons.

* We DO NOT provide “pet party” or “animal encounter” services *
See above! We think that there are far better ways to entertain, inspire and educate without exploiting animals!

* We are the ONLY exotic animal rescue in the UK to be actively speaking out against the cruelty of the exotic pet trade. *
To our knowledge we are the only establishment in the country to operate on the principals we have set out here. We are active in campaigning for positive changes in favour of improved exotic animal welfare and regularly attend Parliament for discussions on such matters.

OUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

As well as rescuing and rehabilitating as many exotic pets in crisis as possible Grace's Rest has a number of campaign goals to help combat the root of the exotic pet crisis:

* Reduce the number of individuals and diversity of exotic species kept as pets *
New species are constantly appearing in the pet trade, the majority of which are completely unsuited to captivity and life in pet homes. Their care needs are incredibly complex making them extremely difficult to care for correctly. Wild caught animals can also pose a danger to the health of people, other pets and our environment due to the pathogens and parasites they can carry. The harvest of wild animals as well as "industrial scale" captive breeding of some species around the world has lead to deminished wild populations, illegal trafficking of endangered species for traditional medicines and a pet market saturated with excess animals.

* Protect those animals already in the trade by improving welfare standards from acquisition, to store, to pet home *
Recent academic studies has show that welfare as an intrinsic value is rarely considered in the journey of an exotic pet from capture /breeding to sale into a pet home. We think this is very worrying and warrants immediate change. An animal kept in low welfare circumstances is highly likely to suffer stress and a poor mental state and therefore be more likely to become ill, exhibit undesirable behaviours and even suffer premature death. "Designer" animals, those bred for specific skin or coal colours, can be heavily inbred to achieve the desired look and as such can host a miriad of genetic defects. Infant mortality from attempts to produce these animals in inherantly high. Poor standards of care and the expression of stereotypic behaviours are often seen as "normal" and "acceptible" in some species - lizards are often presented with missing toes and tails for instance, an indication of poor husbandry and /or management. We believe that education at all levels and positive change in animal protection legislation is necessary to correct these issues.

* Protect wildlife from entering the exotic pet trade and to protect the wild environment *
It is very important to remember that the exotic species seen in the pet trade barring rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, fancy rats and so on but including ALL reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, skunks, raccoons, tanuki /raccoon dogs, primates, hedgehogs, tenrecs, coatis, meerkats and a whole host of other mammals, birds and fish are all WILD ANIMALS! Claims that these creatures are domesticated are rife but wholly incorrect as are claims that keeping such species in pet homes aids conservation. It is up to us to protect these amazing, fascinating and unique wild animals in their natural environment, not whilst trapped in a glass tank in a living room! Again, education at all levels and the introduction of new legislation alongside improvements to our current laws will help protect these animals and their wild habitat for generations to come.


Almost 20 years of experience along with academic achievement, training and enthusiasm goes into the care of our animals and the provision of our services. Clare, the owner, holds multiple qualifications including BSc. (Hons. ) Conservation Biology (with Animal Behaviour), specialising in reptile /amphibian genetics along with professional memberships to specialist organisations. In February 2017 Clare accepted an unconditional offer from the University of Lincoln and was admitted onto the PhD Programme in the Life Sciences Department where she will study wildlife conservation and the direct impact of the exotic pet trade on wild animal populations.

All information contained within this domain are correct to the best of the management's knowledge at the time of publishing. All photographs /media /contents are the exclusive property of Grace's Rest and must not be duplicated or used in any way without written permission.

Please note that no rescue animals or vertebrates of any kind will be used for intentional breeding purposes, this is against our "no breeding" policy for these animals. This policy does not cover females that arrive gravid /pregnant or in the case of colonies where individuals have been accidentally mis-sexed (we always do our best but we are only human and occasionally mistakes may be made, so far this hasn't happened! ).

(Also, none of our animals are, or ever will be, housed in RUBS. For those not in the know, "Really Useful Boxes" are plastic storage boxes often used to house snakes and other reptiles. This practise is against the Grace's Rest code of ethics, therefore animals will also not be rehomed to owners intending to keep animals in such a fashion. )