Increasing electricity bills means the Knaresborough reptile rescue could face closure.
The Knaresborough Exotic Rescue Centre has 150 animals in its care but says only 20 are up for adoption due to the temperaments or size of others.
Centre owner, Daniel Holmes, said the hike in electricity prices has caused a “serious concern” for the centre. It is already taking on a further eight snakes from another rescue in Devon which is closing due to increased costs.
Mr Holmes said these snakes are from a big snake rescue so range from 17 to seven feet long. He thinks out of the eight, six will be with him indefinitely because they’re too large to rehome.
Having these big snakes for a long time does mean he will be investing a lot of money in their care, something he said a rise in bills makes more difficult.
Eight snakes are currently in transport to the centre after another rescue facility closed.
In 2020, his bills for the month were around £1,800 now electricity alone can be £1,500 before the proposed increases. He said:
“We just about scraped through the pandemic and now this is being thrown at us. There aren’t many centres built to take on big snakes but luckily we have the space. It is a big thing to take on these animals as they aren’t cheap to feed or house but we couldn’t say no.”
The centre runs as a non-profit organisation and relies on public donations and adoption fees to survive.
Mr Holmes also said the increasing number of animals it is having to take in is also taking a strain. He said January had been “horrendous” with people already surrendering animals bought for Christmas and others choosing to do so before bills made them too expensive to keep.
“It’s a serious enough situation to think we could shut down.
“There’s a real problem with people taking on animals they can’t afford or not knowing the size they can grow too and then we have to take care of them. But because of this we are often spending huge amounts of money on animals we can never re-home.”
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He said he was hoping to find larger premises to expand the centre’s offering in hopes of finding more revenue streams but is unable to find a unit that’s affordable.
He is looking into a sponsorship scheme so people pay money each month to sponsor one of the permanent rescues which will help the centre feed them. He said developing schemes like this are essential for its survival.
To donate to the centre, find them on Facebook here or send a donation via PayPal to [email protected].
