MEET THE TEAM
LISA SMART
Lisa is the founder of Happy Paws which she set up in July 2014.
Lisa has always had a real passion, enthusiasm and love for animal welfare and in the last decade has been involved in many charitable organisations, as a volunteer, to help promote, fundraise and profile build for the charities, this was whilst running her own very successful business.
It was following a very serious accident Lisa decided to embark on a new path by setting up her own charity and with the help of her very supportive family Happy Paws was born.
For Lisa, Happy Paws is her vocation and she will continue to strive towards rescuing as many deserving souls from other shores as finances allow.
ANNE GARDNER
Anne has been involved with dogs for most of her life and has always had a real passion for their welfare.
Anne currently has 2 rescue dogs Lexi and Bailey.
Over the past few years Anne has built up a great network of other rescues from overseas. She has an amazing talent of sourcing dogs who need our help and although these types of rescues are never easy, there are the inevitable ups & downs, twists and turns it all can get very emotional Anne never gives up and always gives 100% effort in an attempt to save lives.
Anne is also an excellent fundraiser and is responsible for setting up the Happy Paws Auction and Selling on Facebook.
Happy Paws is very lucky to have Anne on board. Her passion, enthusiasm and simple hard work is very much appreciated.
AILEEN RYAN
Aileen is incredibly passionate about rescue and we at Happy Paws are very lucky to have such a dedicated and knowledgeable teammate.
Since rescuing her two golden retrievers in 2008 she has been very active in fundraising, fostering and raising the profile generally on the subject of animal welfare.
Aileen has fostered many dogs which she has helped settle before going on to their forever homes. Aileen was a trustee and UK co-ordinator for Irish Retriever Rescue from 2013-2015.
Aileen has a wealth of experience regarding the various facets of complexity associated with international rescue and her experience is very much appreciated in this field.
LORD BRETT MCLEAN
Lord Brett McLean joined the team as a patron to celebrate our 1st year as a registered charity.
Lord McLean is an incredible animal advocate and supports many animal charities in the South East.
As a charity we are very grateful to him for giving his full support for the work we involve ourselves in.
VICTORIA CLAY
When I discovered Happy Paws and understood what they were doing as a charity, rescuing dogs from such awful situations, I felt an overwhelming urge to help and support as much as possible by donating to auction and putting on fund raising events.
I adopted 3 beautiful Golden Retrievers through Happy Paws bringing my woofers total up to 8 (so far).
I love Happy Paws and everything about them. Every story I read and every dog I see in need reminds me of what amazing work Happy Paws is doing to help those wonderful dogs and give them a life of love and happiness they deserve.
As a pet shop owner, I take great joy telling my customers about the charity and have some regulars who donate frequently and support our events, as well as several who went on to adopt their dogs through Happy Paws.
I’m honoured Lisa asked me to join the team as a Patron and very proud to support and help where I can.
Dominique douglas
Dominique has been a dog lover all her life. After owning golden retrievers for almost 20 years, it was in 2018 she discovered Happy Paws and adopted her first rescue, Jake.
She is now a Happy Paws Mummy to lovely Layla, a cocker spaniel.
Dominique manages our Instagram page and, together with Lisa, designed our website. She is also the host of our Sunday Afternoon Chats on our YouTube Channel.
She is passionate about animal welfare and believes all dogs deserve a life of love and kindness.