Nikki Tibbles is one of Britain's most renowned florists. As the founder of the iconic Wild at Heart, she is also driving force behind the Wild at Heart Foundation, our charity partner for the Capra Pet Pill Cases, launched earlier this year.
Founded in England 10 years ago by Nikki, the charity has a global reach dedicated to reducing the world's free-roaming dog population through three main aspects: sustainable sterilisation, welfare and education initiatives.
Discover her inspiring journey within the foundation below.
What made you want to create your own foundation?
"I’ve been lucky enough to find another passion in my life, my business Wild at Heart, which enabled me to travel the world, but which also highlighted the scale of suffering for stray dogs. My trips became consumed with rescuing and feeding dogs and cats; trips to the vet and donating as much money as I could afford to local shelters, volunteering in them and always leaving feeling that I needed to do something to help change the desperately sorry lives of stray dogs that I witnessed day after day after day.
My eyes were opened to the plight of stray dogs and what you see can never be unseen. I wanted to help, so I started in small way by supporting shelters in Europe with sterilisation, campaigns for rehoming & supplying funds for food."
What did your journey into animal welfare look like before starting the foundation?
"As a child, I was lucky enough to grow up in a home full of animals…all rescued. Most mornings, my parents would find me asleep in our three rescue dogs’ beds. That’s of course only if I had failed spectacularly at trying to sneak all three into bed with me. My father would help me rescue stray dogs, taking in any I may have found and brought home and he would help me fix anything from a pigeon to a hedgehog, kittens, dogs, even a box of gerbils! I will forever be grateful to my parents for teaching me to be kind, compassionate and have empathy towards all animals on our planet. It’s the greatest gift I could ever have been given."
How did you choose the areas where the foundation help?
"The partners we work with, we choose for longevity, to create lasting change, ensuring that our resources are used where they are most needed and also where they can do the most good."
How many dogs have you helped since starting it?
"We have helped to sterilise almost 33,000 dogs and given that sterilising one female dog and her litter of puppies could prevent 67,000 stray dogs being born into a short life of misery, that’s the cycle of suffering stopped before it began for millions of dogs.
We have also placed over 2000 dogs into adoptive homes, but I wanted to do more than that. Rehoming is only the icing on the cake; I wanted to deal with the root cause of the problem. The over-population of stray dogs is a huge global issue that is never dealt with on the scale needed."
What is your greatest achievement with the foundation?
"Whilst we’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far, we believe our greatest achievement is the mindset we’ve built within the Foundation, that we should always be striving to help the global stray dog population more and inspire compassionate change. Progress is ongoing and our true achievement lies in our commitment to never settle, always grow and aim higher for the sake of dogs in need."
Is there a particular dog or rescue story that has stayed with you?
"A particular holiday abroad led to me spending three weeks filling the boot of my car to feed stray dogs and during this time, I found two puppies on the side of the motorway living by a burger van. I fed them, treated them for fleas, left water and bowls and asked the burger-van man to feed them each day. However, I couldn’t forget these precious souls living by a very busy road. My then husband agreed, rather reluctantly, that the next morning, if they were still there, we could save them. So, of course, we picked up two of the most bedraggled puppies you have ever seen, Rose and Lily. Sadly, every dog in Puerto Rico looked like Rose and Lily. Nobody wants a dog from the streets and if they do, they only have to walk two minutes to find one, so I decided that I would bring them home.
Meeting these two dogs was the turning point and the beginning of the inception of Wild at Heart Foundation."
What was the biggest struggle you've faced with the foundation?
"There isn’t a day that we’re not asked for help all over the world and it breaks my heart that we have to say no. So, securing consistent funding to avoid limiting the scale of our impact is by far the biggest struggle we’ve encountered.
A challenge on the ground has been in addressing deeply rooted cultural differences in attitudes toward animals. In some communities, the idea that dogs are sentient beings capable of feeling pain, fear and loneliness is not widely accepted. So, education is imperative; we must teach children and the younger generation that change has to come."
Where do you hope to see the foundation in the next 5 years?
"I would love to see the Foundation expanding its reach and deepening its impact across more communities across the globe. Ultimately, we’re striving for the creation of a world where kindness and empathy towards stray dogs are not just taught, but actions lived by, every day."
How can people help the foundation?
"There are so many causes that need support that it is often very hard to raise funds for an animal on a street in a country which you have never visited, but a small gift can create a world of difference. Every donation helps us work towards supporting our trusted project partners in delivering lifesaving sterilisation, welfare and education programmes, reducing suffering and having a lasting impact on the lives of stray dogs in need.
The work we could do with funds raised or donated could be immeasurable, and for me to leave that legacy would be a life well lived."
Find out more on how to help Wild at Heart Foundation by visiting this link.