Sharron is originally from Whitby, Yorkshire and was born and raised on a farm where she developed a lifelong passion for the wellbeing of animals.  Her amibition from her earliest recollections, was to have a shelter for stray, abandoned and abused dogs. 

 

With her husband, Treve who is also dedicated to the success of CDH, Sharron moved to Portugal in 2010 and in an informal way, managed to start moving forward with her dream of sheltering and rehoming dogs on the Algarve. Official status for CDH was achieved in June 2020.

 

For the few years after the rescue operations started officially, Treve, who has always shared Sharron's passion for the work they do, worked away and did not have much time but since early 2024, he's been permanently at the haven.... and working very hard! 

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When CDH rescues a dog, he/she is vaccinated, chipped, sterilised and of course, well-nourished before being offered for rehoming.  As of November 2019, CDH has assisted with many adoptions (note our Adoption Count on the home page) The vision of course, is to help with many more in the future.  The rescue operation itself can sometimes be back-breaking, dangerous and enormously time consuming..... it has taken literally days at times, to trap a dog that is traumatised, terrified and in many instances, protecting puppies. 

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Prior to the Covid outbreak, CDH was often able to find homes for our dogs in other countries - UK, Germany and Holland for example.  However, it seems that other EU countries are unusually, also facing huge increases in stray/surrendered dogs..... it's no longer easy to find homes for our rescues, outside the boundaries of Portugal.   Within Portugal, the stray population of dogs has increased beyond any point that is acceptable..... municipal kennels are overflowing, as are private shelters.  With the introduction of a "no-kill" policy in 2017, it was wonderful to see Portugal aspiring to this ideal but without a comprehensive sterilisation strategy in place, this has arguably resulted in more cruelty and suffering.  

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Some of the dogs arriving at CDH have ongoing medical problems in the form of chronic conditions, trauma and/or injuries, that preclude them from being rehomed.  These dogs will be our "honoured residents" and will always have a home at our haven.  Please look at our sponsorship options for these dogs.​​​​